Europe is looking south to strengthen its electricity network, with Portugal and Morocco reviving plans for a new cross-border power interconnector following the blackout that exposed vulnerabilities in the Iberian Peninsula’s energy system last year.
The two countries said they will jointly ask the European Commission to recognise the proposed electricity link as an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI), a designation that could unlock European Union funding while helping attract private investment.
If approved, the project would deepen electricity cooperation between Europe and Africa, improve energy security on both sides of the Mediterranean and reinforce Morocco’s growing role as one of Europe’s most important clean energy partners.
Portugal’s Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, and Morocco’s Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Leila Benali, announced the plan after meeting in Lisbon on Monday.
“We have decided to first talk with the European Commission to see its interest in considering this as an important European project,” Carvalho said.
