Morocco, Portugal seek EU backing for cross-border electricity link

Morocco and Portugal have agreed to ask the European Commission to consider a proposed electricity interconnection between the two countries as an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI), a move that could unlock EU funding while both countries also explore private-sector investment.

The project, first studied in 2018, has gained renewed momentum following the major power blackout that hit Spain and Portugal in April 2025, exposing the Iberian Peninsula's limited electricity links with the rest of Europe. Portugal is currently connected only to Spain, and the proposed link with Morocco would provide an additional source of electricity in the event of supply disruptions.

The agreement was announced after a meeting in Lisbon between Morocco's Minister of Energy Transition, Leila Benali, and Portugal's Energy Minister Maria da Graça Carvalho. The two ministers said they would jointly present the proposal to European Commission Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera and simultaneously seek support through the EU's Connecting Europe Facility while testing investor interest through an expression-of-interest process involving grid operators and utilities.

«We have decided to first talk with the European Commission to see its interest in considering this as an important European project», Carvalho said. Benali said the two countries aim to «ensure that we decrease costs, especially the affordability of energy access» for both populations and key economic sectors.

Carvalho added that it is still too early to determine whether the project would involve a direct subsea cable between Portugal and Morocco or rely partly on existing infrastructure through Spain, which is already connected to Morocco's electricity grid.