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UK-Morocco 10GW Renewable Electricity Interconnector Planned

xlinks.co

1–10 of 247 posts

Re: UK-Morocco 10GW Renewable Electricity Interconnector Planned

#4
post #2

Why does the cables trace the Iberian and French coastlines rather than a taking a more direct route?

I'm guessing it has to do with the EU, but it seems far more sensical if it went straight through and allow others to give/receive as well.

Re: UK-Morocco 10GW Renewable Electricity Interconnector Planned

#7
post #5

Sounds inefficient How big are the loss on such a high distance connection ?

If you do not really know the loss why does it "sound inefficient"? I am pretty sure they've done all the due diligence and if the project is a go then the losses are acceptable.

I am more interested (again if the project is a go) what happens if / when some "friendly" people will mess with the cable.

Re: UK-Morocco 10GW Renewable Electricity Interconnector Planned

#8
post #2

Why does the cables trace the Iberian and French coastlines rather than a taking a more direct route?

I'm guessing it has to do with the EU, but it seems far more sensical if it went straight through and allow others to give/receive as well.

That would make it dependent on the countries it hopped through and subject to their political whims.

The Gibraltar issue crops up every now and then for instance so having control over an electrical connection gives the Spanish government more leverage.

Same with France and the dispute over fishing waters. Only recently France were threatening to cut off power to Jersey.

Re: UK-Morocco 10GW Renewable Electricity Interconnector Planned

#9
The latest Doomberg does a great job in pointing out the practical flaws.

https://doomberg.substack.com/p/20000-volts-under-the-sea

"The Xlinks project is a pretty good concept, and yet…it needs access to materials already claimed by many others at prices increasing by the day, it needs to build an entire HVDC industry in Britain from the ground up, and it needs money, lots of it."

Re: UK-Morocco 10GW Renewable Electricity Interconnector Planned

#10
post #5

Sounds inefficient How big are the loss on such a high distance connection ?

High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) is much more efficient at transmission over long distances than AC. It can throw off your intuition on these things.

In China, there is a 3300 km line like this moving 12GW of power. This is a little bit longer, but not by much.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-voltage_direct_current

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