Morocco and Portugal have agreed to revive a stalled electricity interconnection project between the two countries, suspended since 2022, and to seek support from the European Union to finance the scheme.
As part of efforts to relaunch the electricity interconnection project, Morocco’s Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Leïla Benali, held talks on Monday, July 20, in Lisbon with Portugal’s Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho.
According to Benali, the two countries aim through this project to “reduce costs, particularly by ensuring access to affordable energy,” for the benefit of citizens and the various economic sectors concerned.
Speaking to the press after the meeting, the Moroccan minister stressed that Morocco and Portugal intend to “lower costs and, in particular, improve energy affordability” in the interest of citizens and several economic sectors in both countries. The two sides agreed to work simultaneously on securing European funding and exploring opportunities for private sector participation in the implementation of the electricity interconnection project, which is expected to contribute to strengthening energy security and deepening cooperation between Europe and Africa.
For her part, Portugal’s minister announced that Lisbon and Rabat would ask the European Commission to consider classifying the project as a European Union Project of Common Interest (PCI), which would allow it to benefit from EU financing mechanisms.
The Moroccan and Portuguese authorities, she said, will present the project to European Commission Executive Vice-President responsible for a clean, fair and competitive transition, Teresa Ribera, to assess the EU’s interest in including it among priority projects at the European level. She noted that a new electricity link between Europe and Africa would help strengthen energy security and consolidate cooperation between the two continents.
Morocco and Portugal have agreed to begin, as a first step, consultations with the European Commission to assess its willingness to support the project and recognise it as a strategic European initiative.
At the same time, the two countries will work on two complementary areas: the first involves seeking access to the EU’s “Connecting Europe Facility” funding mechanism, while the second consists of gauging private investors’ interest through a call for expressions of interest targeting electricity grid operators and utility companies, the two officials explained.
The renewed push comes amid growing interest in the Morocco-Portugal electricity interconnection project, first launched in 2018, particularly following the major power outage that affected Spain and Portugal in April 2025 and highlighted the Iberian Peninsula’s limited connection to the rest of the European electricity grid.
The Iberian Peninsula’s current electricity interconnection rate with European networks stands at around 3%, far below the European Union’s target of 15% by 2030.
AK/lb/as/APA