Ed Miliband pulls plug on Sahara sun and wind project

Times

2 days ago

The government has pulled the plug on a £24 billion plan to bring Moroccan wind and solar power to Britain via the world's longest subsea electricity cable, citing concerns over security and costs.
Xlinks, chaired by the former Tesco boss Sir Dave Lewis, has been seeking a government contract committing UK consumers to buy electricity from the ambitious project at a fixed, subsidised price for 25 years.
Ed Miliband's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has now 'concluded that it is not in the UK national interest' to continue talks over the project, citing the myriad risks involved, as well as its mission 'to build homegrown power here in the UK'.
• Sir Dave Lewis explains how Xlinks will solve the energy crisis
Lewis said Xlinks was 'hugely surprised and bitterly disappointed' by the decision and would work to 'unlock the potential of the project and maximise its value for all parties in a different way.' It is understood to be exploring whether it can make the project financeable by striking deals with private companies to buy its power.
Xlinks's plans involve building a vast solar, wind and battery storage facility covering 1,500 square miles of the Sahara desert in Morocco, and laying high voltage direct current cables to connect it to the UK power grid in Devon.
It claims the project could be completed by the early 2030s and provide 3.6 gigawatts of reliable clean power for 19 hours a day, enough to supply 7 million homes or meet 8 per cent of Britain's electricity needs.
The government 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.'
The Morocco-UK power link plan was hatched in 2019 by the entrepreneur Simon Morrish and unveiled in 2022 with an estimated price tag of £16 billion. That has since soared to between £22 billion and £24 billion.
The contract price Xlinks was seeking for its power also soared, from £48/MWh in 2022 to £70-80/MWh today, all expressed in 2012 prices, akin to the contract for the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, which was set at £92.50/MWh in 2012 prices.
The government said it had determined that there were '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 billpayers and taxpayers'.
Xlinks has raised and spent £100 million on developing the project. It is backed by big name investors including Abu Dhabi's Taqa, Britain's largest household energy supplier Octopus Energy and the French oil and gas group TotalEnergies.
Lewis said that the project offered 'a highly competitive' contract price and claimed it would reduce wholesale electricity prices in the UK by more than 9 per cent in its first year of operation and 'increase energy security through increased diversity of supply and reduced reliance on imported gas'.
The government said it believed that 'domestic alternatives can see greater economic benefits whether that be through jobs or supply chains'. Xlinks hoped to source some of its cable from a sister project to build a new cabling factory in Scotland, but the majority would have come from Asia.