{"id":373060,"date":"2025-04-01T10:44:47","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T08:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=373060"},"modified":"2025-04-01T10:44:48","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T08:44:48","slug":"dave-lewis-wants-25-billion-to-fund-his-moroccan-solar-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=373060","title":{"rendered":"Dave Lewis Wants \u00a325 Billion To Fund His Moroccan Solar\u00a0Farm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Homewood<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Give us \u00a325 billion, or we\u2019ll go overseas!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Telegraph report:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Britain risks missing out on a pioneering \u00a325bn green energy project because of ministerial dithering, one of the country\u2019s most prominent business figures has warned.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir Dave Lewis, the former Tesco boss spearheading an audacious plan to power millions of UK homes with <\/em>cheap solar and wind power from Morocco<\/em><\/a>, has warned that prolonged bureaucracy could derail a scheme that promises to lower household bills, slash emissions and create thousands of jobs.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As chairman of X-Links, the company behind the project, he warned that \u201cinternational investors won\u2019t wait forever\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir Dave said \u201cthere are people lining up and down the street\u201d to provide the \u00a38bn of funding needed, and when the company recently tested the debt markets for the remaining \u00a317bn of financing, it was \u201csignificantly oversubscribed\u201d, he added.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, X-Links could decide to take the project to another country amid growing frustration over the time it is taking to get the green light from the Government, he claimed.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the company\u2019s plans, solar and wind power generated in Morocco\u2019s Saharan Tan-Tan region will be transported at hyper speed through 4,000km of hi-tech underwater cables to the Devon coast in less than a second.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to the Telegraph, X-Links are looking for a CfD strike price similar to offshore wind, i.e. around \u00a384\/MWh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rated at 11.5 GW, the project would supply about 20 TWh a year, 8% of UK demand, equivalent to a couple of medium size CCGTs, so \u00a325 billion is certainly not cheap!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question needs asking \u2013 if Lewis reckons that investors are queuing up to throw billions at this scheme, there must be excess profits to be made. Let them build their solar farm and interconnector without a subsidised CfD and take their chances on the open market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It certainly seems to me that it would be unjustifiably risky to rely on power from North Africa, with all the terrorist threats about. It would also be foolhardy relying on an undersea cable to this extent as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By all means, let them build it. But that should not replace the necessity of building up the resilience of our own energy provision, which must include a full fleet of dispatchable generators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is one more issue. What happens in ten- or fifteen-years’ time, when the solar panels and batteries are at end of life? Do we go cap in hand to China to replace them? Will X-Links have us over a barrel, knowing we have burnt our bridges?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Britain risks missing out on a pioneering \u00a325bn green energy project because of ministerial dithering, one of the country\u2019s most prominent business figures has warned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":373066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691831484,691834189,691834190,691818154,691834191,691818267,691818852],"class_list":{"0":"post-373060","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-energy-secretary-ed-miliband","9":"tag-green-energy-project","10":"tag-morocco","11":"tag-net-zero","12":"tag-sir-dave-lewis","13":"tag-solar-power","14":"tag-wind-power","16":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/00green-energy.jpg?fit=3000%2C2000&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1z36","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":414729,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=414729","url_meta":{"origin":373060,"position":0},"title":"How Wasteful is Green Energy? 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Across the entire climate finance portfolio,\u00a0between 2017 and 2023, this difference amounts to US$24.28\u2013US$41.32 billion,\u201d the report states.","rel":"","context":"In \"\u201cCleanTech\u201d projects\"","block_context":{"text":"\u201cCleanTech\u201d projects","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=cleantech-projects"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AQNDCiQA57RPyuRLBXAurpuYp88WHEFYdDzepIhC-TGGShDh6HGjNNIn_YQPdJRoC-5h-ez0NRLr2Ue617RUFUZf37n84H7HhmDNprfzwet80INc3N48GIW4vG_cXkPXkoSPQNHmQkbYFAuTaYSIjVfL_OPkPQ.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AQNDCiQA57RPyuRLBXAurpuYp88WHEFYdDzepIhC-TGGShDh6HGjNNIn_YQPdJRoC-5h-ez0NRLr2Ue617RUFUZf37n84H7HhmDNprfzwet80INc3N48GIW4vG_cXkPXkoSPQNHmQkbYFAuTaYSIjVfL_OPkPQ.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AQNDCiQA57RPyuRLBXAurpuYp88WHEFYdDzepIhC-TGGShDh6HGjNNIn_YQPdJRoC-5h-ez0NRLr2Ue617RUFUZf37n84H7HhmDNprfzwet80INc3N48GIW4vG_cXkPXkoSPQNHmQkbYFAuTaYSIjVfL_OPkPQ.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AQNDCiQA57RPyuRLBXAurpuYp88WHEFYdDzepIhC-TGGShDh6HGjNNIn_YQPdJRoC-5h-ez0NRLr2Ue617RUFUZf37n84H7HhmDNprfzwet80INc3N48GIW4vG_cXkPXkoSPQNHmQkbYFAuTaYSIjVfL_OPkPQ.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AQNDCiQA57RPyuRLBXAurpuYp88WHEFYdDzepIhC-TGGShDh6HGjNNIn_YQPdJRoC-5h-ez0NRLr2Ue617RUFUZf37n84H7HhmDNprfzwet80INc3N48GIW4vG_cXkPXkoSPQNHmQkbYFAuTaYSIjVfL_OPkPQ.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":257121,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=257121","url_meta":{"origin":373060,"position":1},"title":"Renewable energy projects worth billions stuck on\u00a0hold","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/12\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Billions of pounds\u2019 worth of green energy projects are on hold because they cannot plug into the UK\u2019s electricity system, BBC research shows.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/010x0.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/010x0.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/010x0.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/010x0.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/010x0.webp?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":257821,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=257821","url_meta":{"origin":373060,"position":2},"title":"Gridlock: renewable energy projects worth billions stuck on\u00a0hold","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/17\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Quote: \u2018The system was built when just a few fossil fuel power plants were requesting a connection each year, but now there are 1,100 projects in the queue\u2019. 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