Octopus Energy Group has entered a financial and strategic partnership with Xlinks. The Xlinks project is to see a solar-plus-wind site in the Moroccan desert supply 3.6 GW of clean power to the UK for an average of 20 hours a day. This will be enabled by four 3,800 km long subsea cables. The two are also exploring potential offtaking rights for Octopus and an agreement that would see Octopus’ tech platform KrakenFlex used to increase value to consumers, and the opportunity to power millions of heat pumps all year round with cheap green electricity.
Once running, Xlinks is expected to deliver power at £48/MWh, with the project expected to become operational in 2027.
The project is to have a total capacity of 10.5 GW, with a 5 GW/20 GWh battery facility to help create a near-constant source of flexible and predictable renewable energy.
Xlinks also has plans to create an export-led cable manufacturing industry in Britain via dedicated cable supply system company XLCC, which will support the manufacturing of the HVDC interconnector needed for the project.