Portugal and Morocco announced that they will jointly seek European Union funding and private-sector investment for a proposed electricity interconnection linking the two countries.
Following talks in Lisbon, Portuguese Energy Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho and Moroccan Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development Leila Benali agreed to ask European Commission Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera to designate the project as an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI).
IPCEI status would allow EU member states to provide public funding beyond normal state-aid limits for strategic cross-border infrastructure projects, making it easier to finance initiatives considered critical to Europe’s energy transition and competitiveness.
Carvalho said Portugal and Morocco would first seek the European Commission’s backing before pursuing additional financing. She said a new electricity link between Europe and Africa would strengthen energy security and deepen regional cooperation.
The two governments also plan to apply for funding under the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and invite electricity transmission operators, utilities and infrastructure developers to participate through a formal call for expressions of interest. Officials said combining public and private financing would reduce costs for taxpayers and consumers while improving the project’s commercial
Engineers are assessing two options: a direct high-voltage subsea cable between Portugal and Morocco or a connectiond to North Africa. The project was first proposed in 2016 as a 220-kilometre submarine cable with a transmission capacity of 1,000 megawatts. A 2022 study by the Mediterranean Association of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (MED-TSO) estimated the cost at around €650 million (USD 742 million)
The initiative has regained momentum following the widespread blackout that hit Spain and Portugal in April 2025, highlighting the Iberian Peninsula’s limited electricity interconnections with the rest of Europe. The region’s interconnection capacity is about 3% of installed generation capacity, well below the EU’s 15% target by 2030.
Officials say stronger cross-border links would improve grid resilience, support emergency power transfers and facilitate greater integration of renewable energy.
The Portugal-Morocco project is part of a broader European effort to expand electricity connections with North Africa, alongside projects including the Tunisia-Italy ELMED interconnector and the Greece-Egypt GREGY link. These initiatives aim to boost renewable electricity trade, strengthen Europe’s energy security and support decarbonization, while creating investment and export opportunities for North African countries.
https://trendsnafrica.com/portugal-extends-support-to-moroccos-proposal-for-autonomy-for-western-sahara/
Portugal and Morocco are reviving plans for a long-discussed electricity interconnection project aimed at strengthening energy cooperation between Europe and North Africa while improving the resilience of regional power systems. The initiative comes amid growing European efforts to diversify energy supplies, accelerate the clean energy transition, and expand cross-border electricity networks following recent disruptions to the continent’s power infrastructure.
The proposed interconnection, first introduced in 2016, would create a direct electricity link between the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, enabling greater integration of renewable energy reranean
