Xlinks warns UK solar and cable project could move abroad

A lack of commitment from the UK government for a major UK-Morocco power project could send the project overseas, Xlinks chairman Dave Lewis has warned.

In comments to the Telegraph, he said that slow progress from authorities could push the £25 billion project overseas, potentially to Germany.

“The people who have invested in this project want it to go ahead in the UK,” he said. “We think that’s by far and away the best use of this energy, but there comes a point where you go, ‘OK, we’re four years in. We’ve done everything that you asked us to do, but this process is taking an enormous amount of time.’”

Xlinks is developing an ambitious project to produce renewable energy in Morocco and export it to the UK. This would see 11.5 GW of solar and wind capacity built in Morocco and then sent to the UK via 2,300 miles (3,800km) of subsea cables.

© Supplied by XLCC

The Xlinks project has lined up multiple backers including TotalEnergies, Octopus Energy, Abu Dhabi’s TAQA, GE Vernova and the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC). With £8bn of funding needed, Lewis said that “there are people lining up and down the street” to provide it, while recent tests to secure financing for the remaining £17bn were “significantly oversubscribed”.

Cable maker XLCC, in partnership with HALO Kilmarnock, is looking to create a major high-voltage, direct current (HVDC) cable factory in Hunterston, Ayrshire.

The £1.4bn project won planning permission in 2022. Not only will it renovate the disused Peel Ports coal yard it has the potential to create 1,200 jobs, with 300 of these being in Kilmarnock.

However, Lewis warned that slow progress from the UK government could test investors’ patience, meaning that Xlinks could find another European country to connect the project with.

According to Lewis, the investors “like the UK, the rule of law, the quality of people – all of those things. But they’re frustrated with our lack of policy, lack of engagement, lack of real partnerships.”

Xlinks had previously said it that Germany is a possible option for a European cable destination.

The UK government has previously recognised the Xlinks plan as one of “national significance” as it would help increase energy security.

But Lewis said that it needed to do more to support the project. In particular, he said that awarding that project with a contract for difference (CfD) with a strike price of around £70 per MWh would key.