Taqa, an energy company based in Abu Dhabi, has entered advanced talks to provide financial backing to Xlinks, a start-up constructing the world’s longest undersea cable.
Taqa’s operations span oil, gas and carbon capture and storage (CCS). The $22bn (£18bn) project seeks to construct a 3,800km cable between Morocco and the UK, with a capacity of 3.6GW.Xlinks hope that the cable will be running at full capacity by 2030. Sources contacted Sky Newsstating that an agreement could be struck within weeks. Xlinks is expected to raise $37m (£30m) in its latest funding round. Utility company Octopus Energy is also expected to participate.
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The UK government has selected the Xlinks project as a potential investment opportunity for its “Powering Up Britain” campaign.
Xlinks claims that the project will provide 8% of the UK’s electricity demand. The project will involve a large-scale onshore wind, solar and battery electricity generation site in Morocco which will exclusively power the UK grid. The cable will supply electricity solely from renewable sources.
Simon Morrish, Xlinks CEO, said: “The UK’s energy security is a vital national interest. So too, however, is the urgent need to stick to the Government’s 2035 net zero electricity system target and avoid short-term thinking that may derail the transition to clean, abundant sources of energy”.
Connecting Britain to African energy
The UK government has said it seeks to “scale up affordable, clean, homegrown power and build thriving green industries in Britain”. A government paper released last week says that the government should “secure energy supplies by ensuring that where the UK is dependent on imports, those imports are built on diversified sources of supply and relationships with strong, trusted partners and allies”.
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By GlobalDataThe talks come five months after Sir David Lewis, chair of Xlinks, described talks with the government as “frustratingly slow” as the project sought support. The current talks take place as Xlinks hopes to secure funding through the upcoming Contracts for Difference auction.
