Xlinks will build a 1, sq mile solar, wind and battery facility in the Province of Tan-Tan, Morocco β an area that has twice the solar intensity of the UK and consistently strong trade winds.
This transformational surge in supply will be crucial given the fast-growing demand for electricity. It will stabilise and bring down wholesale prices by 9. It can increase or decrease supply in sub-second response times, which is necessary to balance the grid and will help Britain to avoid balancing costs associated with, for example, having to use Combined Cycle Gas Turbines CCGTs.
This is necessary because the sun and wind is intermittent, with long periods β sometimes weeks at a time β when they generate almost no electricity. The UK and most of northern Europe suffers from Dunkelflaute β regular periods of very low wind and a lack of sunshine, making it difficult to generate energy from solar and wind power. Morocco has become, over the last 10 years, an international leader in the renewable energy.
The country has been a forerunner in the development of large, innovative renewable energy projects worldwide, such as the Noor Ouarzazate Complex, which hold the largest concentrated solar power CSP project globally, or its wind integrated program.
The strong trading relationship between Morocco and the UK goes back more than years, and Xlinks will strengthen that even further. The Project will realise this ambition and open an energy export relationship with Europe, at scale and at pace.
