Another tory started project that given as VERY IMPORTANT and needed expediting .. falling foul of Millipede "ought to be" Banned................
Britain risks missing out on a pioneering £25bn green energy project because of ministerial dithering, one of the country’s most prominent business figures has warned.
Sir Dave Lewis, the former Tesco boss spearheading an audacious plan to power millions of UK homes with
cheap solar and wind power from Morocco, has warned that prolonged bureaucracy could derail a scheme that promises to lower household bills, slash emissions and create thousands of jobs.
The scheme is expected to provide electricity for 9m homes and cut carbon emissions from the UK power sector by around 10pc, while also bringing down energy bills through a reduction in wholesale costs.
A new factory employing over 1,200 people has been commissioned in Scotland to provide the thousands of miles of cable needed to connect Morocco with the UK, with the plant eventually expected to supply other clean energy initiatives like it.
However, X-Links is working on
parallel plans to reproduce the exact same set-up in Germany and another unnamed country, which will be fast-tracked if the UK version cannot overcome political red tape in the coming months. Instead of exporting power to Britain, X-Links could choose to partner with another state, which would likely then be where the giant cable factory would be built instead of Scotland.
Despite being designated a project of national significance nearly 18 months ago, X-Links is now waiting for
Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, to give it his blessing in the form of a long-term inflation-linked contract that will guarantee the company can sell its electricity at a fixed price.
The so-called strike price X-Links is seeking is somewhere in the region of £70 megawatt hours (MWh), making it cheaper than nuclear, biomass, and tidal power, according to Sir Dave.
Meanwhile, the decision to build a completely new factory in south-west Scotland was prompted by a global supply squeeze that is causing a long wait for the copper and aluminium cables, which are roughly the diameter of a saucer.
The current wait is around eight years, and the delays are “getting worse” because demand is rising and there are only three suppliers across Europe. By building its own factory, X-Links will be able to bypass such obstacles.
SPREAD OVER 4 YEARS OR MORE WOULD BE LESS than the annual bill for illegal boat people ....... !!!!