Europe and North Africa are getting their first undersea power link
A 200-kilometer undersea power cable will connect Europe and North Africa for the first time, linking Tunisia and Italy to transmit clean energy across the Mediterranean. The project aims to enable large-scale renewable energy sharing between the two regions.
Background
- A new undersea cable will carry electricity between North Africa and Europe for the first time, connecting Tunisia to Italy via a 220 km subsea power link.
- The project is called ELMED (Tunisia-Italy interconnection) and is led by Italy’s Terna and Tunisia’s STEG. It has received €307 million in EU funding and is expected to be operational by 2028.
- This is a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable, the type used for long-distance undersea power transmission because it loses less energy than alternating current.
- The link will enable North Africa to export solar and wind power to Europe — a long-discussed concept often called the "Desertec" idea, which stalled in the 2010s due to cost and political risk. ELMED revives that vision at a smaller, bilateral scale.
- For Europe, it adds a new source of clean energy imports as it phases out fossil fuels. For North Africa, it creates a revenue stream and incentive to build more renewable capacity.