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I know that Norway has subsea power cables to various European countries. Apparently the North Sea Link[1] which came online in 2021, is the longest such cable
by RaoulP 3y ago
I know that Norway has subsea power cables to various European countries. Apparently the North Sea Link[1] which came online in 2021, is the longest such cable in the world at 750 km.
Drawing a 750 km line from the coast of Morocco I can almost reach Barcelona, Spain. With perhaps some advances, and including the distance of the branching network, I think reaching "enough" of European power consumption is doable.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea_Link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea_Link
edit: actually, looking at terrestrial interconnectors the record is much farther already, 2210 km between Hami and Zhengzhou in China.[2]
Coincidentally, Wikipedia mentions that the longest proposed cable is in fact the Xlinks Morocco-UK Power Project[3], which the Washington Post article failed to mention. At 3,800 km, the power losses would apparently amount to 13%.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interconnector https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interconnector
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xlinks_Morocco-UK_Power_Project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xlinks_Morocco-UK_Power_Projec...
- rmccue 3y agoI believe the North Sea Link is specifically the longest undersea cable, not the longest transmission line; a more direct route could be taken across the Strait of Gibraltar with further transmission on land. For the purposes of argument, Ceuta to Algeciras would be connecting two parts of Spain and is only 30km across the strait.
- RaoulP 3y agoYou're right - I just updated my comment with some terrestrial cable info as you posted this.