Xlinks Chair Sir Dave Lewis has slammed the government’s decision to abandon a vast clean power project that would have brought wind and solar electricity from Morocco to Britain via underwater cables.
“We are hugely surprised and bitterly disappointed that the UK Government would choose to walk away from an opportunity to unlock the substantial value that a large-scale renewable energy project like this would bring,” Lewis said, after ministers ditched plans to support the Morocco-UK Power Project.
He said the 3,800km cable could have slashed the UK’s electricity prices by “over 9% in its first year”, injected £5bn into Britain’s green industries and provided “8% of the UK’s electricity needs at a time when demand is rocketing”.
Instead, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has now confirmed it is “no longer considering a Contract for Difference” for the scheme.
The £26bn project was led by UK-based Xlinks and had backing from TotalEnergies and Africa Finance Corporation.
But DESNZ said it had “a high level of inherent risk, related to both delivery and security”. Energy minister Michael Schanks added: “There are stronger alternative options that we should focus our attention on.”
Mr Lewis hit back, saying: “The Project requires no upfront Government investment and offered a highly competitive CfD strike price… at significantly lower cost than the nuclear alternative and be connected to the grid much sooner.”
He pointed out that it had already been designated a Nationally Significant Project by the UK government in 2023 and that international lenders were queuing up to back it.
“Most importantly, Morocco – a world leader in renewable energy – recognises the strategic value of interconnections. We have been continuously impressed by the vision, framework and environment that Morocco has put in place to foster international energy collaboration.”
The UK has set a goal to run entirely on clean energy by 2030 and has already shut its last coal plant.
But its rejection of Xlinks marks a retreat from long-distance energy imports in favour of domestic projects.
Mr Lewis said Xlinks will now explore other ways to deliver the project.
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