IEEE Spectrum November, 2008 - 43

M

ansouri's -o ffice, on the north
side of Casablanca, is the nerve
center for expanding the flow
across Gibraltar and for accommodating
new power generation within Morocco
using 400--kV transmission lines.
It's a hectic job. Mansouri's explana--
tions are interrupted by frequent calls from
engineers in the field. One reports rats-
the usual suspects in many power out--
ages-pouring out of one of Casablanca's
new substations. Another gives the latest
news on a rural landowner who has been
demanding several hundred thousand
euros to let a 400--kV transmission line
cross his property.
"He has a little house in the country.
Our line is well to the side," says a slightly
exasperated Mansouri. "That line is going
to kill me. Truly."
But she perseveres, knowing what the
benefits will be. Completion of the first
phase of the 400--kV transmission net--
work-1250 kilometers' worth, snaking
through northern Morocco-has already
enabled ONE to get more power from
Spain. A second cross--Gibraltar tie--line
went in last year. Although these links are
rated to carry a combined 1400 MW, the
nation's wobbly 220--kV grid could handle
only 200 MW when the first set of undersea
cables came into commercial use. But with
the new 400--kV improvements, Mansouri
expects soon to be importing 700 MW.
ONE has other big plans for the next
five years, starting with the addition of
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4800 MW in new power generation south
of Casablanca. The utility calculates that
tying that power into the national grid
will require 1045 km of new 400--kV lines.
Those and other upgrades will in turn fur--
ther boost Morocco's capacity to import
power from Europe to 1200 MW-close to
maxing out the existing undersea cables.
It's no surprise then that ONE's direc--
tor general is hoping to interest Spanish
grid operator Red Eléctrica de España, of
Madrid, in a third cross--strait link.
The 400--kV grid might even help relieve
another major heartache for Morocco: its
dysfunctional relationship with neigh--
boring Algeria. Their 1559--km--long fron--
tier slammed shut to people and goods in
1994 when disputes over the border and an
independence movement in the Western
Sahara boiled over. But all through the
estrangement, electricity has continued to
flow between Morocco and Algeria, pre--
serving a channel of technical exchange and
demonstrating the benefits of cooperation.
Morocco's 400--kV lines and similar infra--
structure nearing completion in Algeria
should multiply the value of their intercon--
nection by increasing the amount of power
they can exchange as much as sevenfold.
These and other grid upgrades in the
region mean even more to the nations east of
Tunisia that represent the next frontier for
the MedRing: Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Syria,
and Lebanon, which are already electrically
interconnected-a bloc that, not surpris--
ingly, bypasses Israel and the Palestinian

territories. Three years ago, the power--
transfer limits of the weak 220--kV lines
then prevailing in the region torpedoed a
first bid to hook this eastern bloc up to the
emerging MedRing, heightening anxiety
among the UCTE energy planners over--
seeing the project and raising the stakes for
a soon--to--be--mounted second try.

t

he -prospect -of -linking Libya -to
Europe electrically is a testament
to the ongoing changes in the Great
Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,
as Colonel Muammar al--Qaddafi renamed
it upon seizing power in 1969. To end
decades of isolation under his rule, in 2003
Libya renounced its nuclear--weapons pro--
gram and offered a measure of financial
compensation to the families of those killed
in the terrorist bombings of Pan Am 103
and UTA 772. Now the government is work--
ing to secure its electrical supplies and to
take on a growing role in regional energy
markets-a response to years of pent--up
demand in Libya, and indeed throughout
North Africa, for a better quality of life.
Why is Libya expending such efforts
to connect with its African and European
neighbors? After all, this oil-- and gas--
rich nation has the cash to finance new
power plants and the fuel to run them. It
should have no trouble doubling its gen--
eration capacity within a decade to meet
projected demand. But generating capac--
ity isn't enough, as Libyan leaders were
reminded last April when a blackout

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum November, 2008
