Portugal and Morocco are working on relaunching a submarine electricity cable project between the two countries, valued at approximately 800 million euros in 2018. The Portuguese government announced in July that it would seek to obtain European funds for the electricity highway and open a call for interest to assess the appetite of private companies for the project. The goal is to transport Portuguese electricity to Morocco and bring Moroccan electricity to Portugal, with risk-sharing between the public and private sectors.
The project is creating concerns in Spain at a time of heightened diplomatic tension between Madrid and Rabat due to the invasion of Ceuta by 70,000 migrants. The Spanish newspaper El Economista wrote that "Morocco seals an electricity bypass with Spain" amid the diplomatic crisis. The Spanish public questions whether Morocco wants to stop "exclusively depending on Spain to connect electrically with Europe," using Portugal as an alternative.
Portugal's Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, argued that the submarine cable would give Portugal's electricity grid more robustness, explaining that it would have helped during the blackout of April 28, 2025, allowing Portugal to restart faster, just as Spain received help from France and Morocco. The minister added that Portugal will first talk with the European Commission to consider the project as a European priority, and will then launch a call for interest to gauge private sector interest, involving electricity producers and grid operators.
Morocco's Minister of Energy, Leila Benali, stated that the goal is "to ensure that we reduce costs, especially the ease of access to energy for our populations on both sides of the Atlantic." A Portugal-Morocco High-Level Summit is scheduled for the beginning of next year. Interestingly, Spain already has two electrical interconnections with Morocco, but the Spanish press only shows concern about the possibility of an interconnection with Portugal, warning that "more interconnection can raise prices in Spain."
