Britain rejects Morocco-UK green energy cable project
LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - Britain on Thursday said it would not go ahead with a 25 billion pound ($34.39 billion) project to tap Moroccan renewable energy via what would have been the world's longest subsea power cable.
"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," energy department minister Michael Shanks said in a written statement to parliament.
The Xlinks project aimed to supply power to 7 million British homes by 2030 using solar and wind energy from the Sahara. The plan involved building 3,800 kilometres (2,361 miles) of high-voltage direct current subsea cables from Morocco to southwest England.
It had been designated by the previous Conservative government as a project of "national significance" but faced major funding and regulatory hurdles.
($1 = 0.7270 pounds)
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