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Portugal and Morocco study underwater electricity connections (Público)
International consortium featuring INESC TEC will study the feasibility of the electricity connection between the two countries.
The government announced on Monday that an international consortium featuring the Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering - Technology and Science (INESC TEC), and the consulting companies Deloitte and Det Norske Veritas (the latter based in Oslo, Norway), will be studying the technical and economic feasibility of the future electricity interconnection between Portugal and Morocco.
The project has been adjudicated for 185 thousand euros, according to information released by the Secretary of State for Energy. According to a press release from the Secretary of State for Energy, Jorge Seguro Sanches, “the adjudication is the result of a joint decision” between Portugal and Morocco.
“Initially, this connection will allow Portugal to boost the export of renewable energy and, at the same time, guarantee flexibility and security of the supply, strengthening the competitiveness of the national economy”, the statement reveals.
During the presentation of the “2016 BP Statistical Review of World Energy” in Lisbon, the Secretary of State for Energy stated that the cost of this connection with Morocco - with a transmission capacity of 1000 megawatts – will cost around 200 million euros.
If the underwater connection is materialised in southern Portugal, the country will be able to export electricity to Morocco. Because Morocco (which is already connected to Spain) has a deficit of electricity production and very high prices, Portugal would position itself as a supplier, but in the future the country would have to “remain competitive” given the enormous potential of solar production in North Africa, according to the Secretary of State in an interview with PÚBLICO in March.
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