The United Kingdom is set to import electricity from Egypt through undersea cables, leveraging the abundant sunshine in the Egyptian desert to bolster the nation’s energy security in a zero-emission world, as reported by The Telegraph.
Part of the plan includes the installation of subsea cables connecting Egypt and Europe across the Mediterranean Sea, allowing for the export of energy generated from solar farms and wind turbines in North Africa to the UK and Europe.
Exports will flow during times when low winds or reduced sunlight affect production from offshore wind farms in the North Sea and onshore solar farms.
Details of the project are expected to be discussed at an energy summit in London next week.
Carlos Diaz, the Director of Renewable Energy and Power at Rystad Energy, energy conference organizers, noted that North Africa has become an increasingly vital source of electricity for all of Europe.
He stated that European demand for low-carbon electricity is expected to grow significantly over the next three years. Europe’s infrastructure build-out may not be sufficient at all, so we need to look for other sources.
These sources include a series of massive solar farms built or under construction in the Egyptian deserts and wind farms near the Suez Canal, an area known for its strong and steady winds.
It is expected that together, they will generate around 10 gigawatts of power, roughly equivalent to ten power stations in the UK. Their energy will be transported under the Mediterranean Sea through a 600-mile cable ending in Attica, Greece.
Diaz added that about a third of the energy will be used in Greece, and the rest will be exported to the rest of Europe.
The £3.7 billion project is being developed by the Greek company Copelouzos in collaboration with Infinity, an Egyptian company that has developed solar farms across desert areas.
Simultaneously, another separate plan is underway to lay four direct cables between Morocco and the UK, covering a distance of about 2400 miles.
