Government ditches support for Xlinks undersea cable project

The controversial Xlinks scheme to pipe renewable energy from Morocco to the UK via North Devon has lost the support of the Government.

The private company project had sought to run 4,000 kilometres of cable under the sea to pipe in solar and wind energy from the North African country, claiming it would bring benefits totally £25billion and provide around 10% of the UK’s energy needs.

But Labour has chosen not to endorse the plans, saying instead it wished to focus more on developing ‘home-grown energy’.

A minister said it was ‘not in the national interest at this time’ and the Government has declined to proceed further to formal negotiations on a 25-year energy price guarantee.

Xlinks chair Sir Dave Lewis has said the company is ‘bitterly disappointed’ by the decision.

The cables would have made landfall in North Devon at Abbotsham and then continued another 14km to a converter station at Gammaton Cross between Bideford and Alverdiscott sub station, where it would connect to the National Grid.

Above: The route the cables from the Xlinks project would have taken across Torridge. Credit: Xlinks

There had been strong local opposition to the plans, with residents fearing the disruption it would bring and the impact on the environment.

Torridge MP Sir Geoffrey Cox had been critical of the scheme, citing a ‘causal approach’ to consultation and a ‘lack of detail’.

Above: An artist’s impression of how the Xlinks converter station at Gammaton Cross would have looked. Credit: Xlinks

The Xlinks project was financed by private money and had already spent £100million from various international investors, with backing from energy suppliers such as Octopus Energy.

Michael Shanks, Minister for Energy, said officials from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero had been working closely with Xlinks to understand the proposal and evaluate the project’s viability and merits.

But he said: “The government has concluded that it is not in the UK national interest at this time to continue further consideration of support for the Morocco-UK Power Project.

“The government has concluded the project does not clearly align strategically with the government’s mission to build home-grown power here in the UK.”

He thanked Xlinks for an ‘innovative proposal’ as well as the Kingdom of Morocco for its willingness to consider the project, but said: “This would be a first of a kind mega project which has a high level of inherent, cumulative risk (delivery, operational, and security).

“We acknowledge the excellent work of Xlinks on trying to mitigate these risks where possible but nevertheless, this remains a factor in decision-making.

“Ultimately, we have determined there are stronger alternative options that we should focus our attention on to meet the government’s plans to decarbonise the power sector and accelerate to net zero at least risk to bill payers and taxpayers.

“The government also believes that domestic alternatives can see greater economic benefits whether that be through jobs or supply chains.”

In a statement on the Xlinks website, chair Sir Dave Lewis said: “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, not least the opportunity to lower the wholesale price of electricity, which is currently one of the highest in Europe.

“The Project requires no upfront Government investment and offered a highly competitive strike price. It would reduce wholesale electricity prices by over 9% in its first year; bring in £20bn of socio-economic value, including a £5bn injection into the UK’s green industries; provide 8% of the UK’s electricity needs at a time when demand is rocketing; cut power sector CO2 emissions by c.10% in its first year; and increase energy security through increased diversity of supply and reduced reliance on imported gas.

“Furthermore, it would address the challenge of sharp drops in UK power generation when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining. It would do this at significantly lower cost than the nuclear alternative and be connected to the grid much sooner.

“The international investment community identified the potential of the opportunity. Over £100m from leading energy sector players has already been spent on project development, and demand from lenders to participate in the construction phase is greater than we require.”

Xlinks has said it will now consider other ways to deliver the project.

You can read the full ministerial statement from Michael Shanks HERE

The full Xlinks statement from Sir Dave Lewis can be found HERE