Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Sun Cable will be pipped to the post in the race to lay a 4000-kilometre cable to send solar energy out of the desert and under the oceans. But the British company set to finish first says its project could kickstart the industry worldwide. Xlinks has a £20 billion-plus ($39 billion) plan to lay its own 4000-kilometre cable that will hook up an 11.5-gigawatt Moroccan solar and onshore wind farm to the south-west coast of England, supplying 3.
6 gigawatts into the British electricity grid by the early 2030s.The project has nailed down almost three-quarters of its required equity funding, the procurement tenders are out, and Xlinks founder and group CEO Simon Morrish exudes confidence. He reckons Xlinks will offer a demonstration effect – potentially spurring copycat projects that will link the solar-starved parts of Europe to the abundant sunshine and wind resources of North Africa and the Middle Eas