Specializing in dredging, the Luxembourg company Jan De Nul announced on June 11 a collaboration with the Australian mining giant Fortescue in order to connect continents of “high energy production” to the continents “high consumption” for the delivery of green electricity. This partnership agreement, relating to “the provision of the necessary resources for the transport and laying of submarine cables”, was signed in Rabat by Andrew Forrest, founding president of Fortescue, and Jan Pieter De Nul, executive chairman of Jan De Nul, according to a press release from the Luxembourg group. According to the same source, the Australian company qualified ” Peerless “ the opportunity to “transmit renewable electrons” to Europe from Africa. “Industries and consumers deserve better choices than they currently have, including fossil fuels that emit carbon and cause global warming,” welcomed the boss of this company specializing in mining extraction. For his part, J. De Nul noted that “the direct transport and consumption of green electrons is one of the most effective ways to contribute to the reduction of energy needs in the world”. “With our know-how, our highly qualified and motivated workforce, and our versatile fleet of construction vessels, including five vessels specialized in the installation of the latest generation submarine cables, we are ready to build an energy transition,” he added again.
Before concluding this step, Fortescue, which wishes to produce green hydrogen, ammonia and fertilizers, has previously joined forces with the Moroccan Group OCP, the world leader in plant nutrition and phosphate fertilizers. The two partners announced their cooperation last April. Their joint venture “aims to provide green hydrogen, green ammonia and green fertilizers to Morocco, Europe and international markets”, then stipulated the press release ofOCP. According to the same source, the agreement signed “includes the potential development of manufacturing facilities and an R&D hub to advance Morocco’s rapidly growing renewable energy industry.”
The installation of submarine cables between the African and European continent is not new and Moroccan green energy is in demand. Since 2021, the British company Xlinks is working on a project to connect Morocco to the United Kingdom using a 3,800 km underwater high-voltage cable. Cable which, alone, will require 90,000 tonnes of steel, the equivalent of twelve towers Eiffel. Xlinks announced the construction of a 10.5 GW power plant in Morocco (7 GW of photovoltaic panels, and 3.5 GW of wind turbines). A facility covering 1,500 square kilometers, ten times the area of Paris (or 210,000 football fields). This megaproject costing more than 21 billion euros aims to meet, according to the British company, 8% of the United Kingdom’s electricity needs.
