Latest news with #CfD
Morocco World
3 days ago
- Business
- Morocco World
Xlinks Pauses UK-Morocco Undersea Power Cable Project Amid Regulatory Delays
Doha – Xlinks, the British company behind the ambitious project to connect Morocco and the United Kingdom via undersea power cables, has temporarily paused its Development Consent Order (DCO) examination process. In a May 14 letter to the UK Planning Inspectorate, the company requested this halt while awaiting a crucial decision on its Contract for Difference (CfD) from the UK Department of Energy Security and Net Zero. The pause comes as the company seeks financial certainty through a CfD that would guarantee fixed electricity prices for 25 years. According to company sources close to the matter, this is 'a pause in the DCO process, not a suspension,' aimed at preventing 'misalignment of different project development stages.' The main issue holding up the project is the need for price certainty. Xlinks is seeking a guaranteed price of £77 per megawatt-hour for solar energy and £87 for wind energy produced in Morocco's Guelmim-Oued Noun region. Without this financial commitment, investors are reluctant to move forward with the necessary funding. 'Without this clear commitment on a stable price, Xlinks' financial partners are hesitant to inject the necessary investments,' the company stated. Dave Lewis, Xlinks' chairman, has expressed frustration over the delays and frequent ministerial changes in the UK's energy department. In a January interview with Bloomberg, Lewis noted that the undersea cable project could generate up to £24 billion (MAD 300 billion) in investments, with approximately £5 billion in Great Britain alone. The project was designated as a 'nationally significant infrastructure project' by the British government in 2023, highlighting its strategic importance to the UK's energy security. It aims to provide power to nine million British households and reduce CO2 emissions from the UK energy sector by 10%. Read also: Former UK Minister: Morocco Key Player in Britain's Clean Energy Mission The proposed 3,900-kilometer cable would traverse Portuguese, Spanish, and French coastal waters to connect Morocco's renewable energy facilities with the British grid. If completed, it would deliver 3.6 gigawatts of electricity generated from solar parks, wind farms, and battery storage systems. Facing continued delays, Xlinks has begun exploring alternatives. Lewis told The Telegraph in early April that if the British government's response was further delayed, shareholders might redirect resources toward other projects under development, including a potential Morocco-Germany connection. The company opted for direct negotiations with the government rather than going through a tender process, which has contributed to the delays. Political instability in the UK has further complicated negotiations. Meanwhile, competition is emerging. Australian group Fortescue is developing a similar 100-gigawatt electrical connection project between North Africa and the European Union. Fortescue's chairman, Andrew Forrest, has confirmed discussions with Ed Miliband, the British Secretary of State for Energy Security, and various European governments about installing multiple undersea cables that could transport up to 500 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity annually—nearly equivalent to Germany's total annual consumption. Even with the most favorable outcome, Xlinks' complex authorization process is unlikely to conclude before 2026. While the company targets a 2030 launch date, effective service might not begin until 2031 at the earliest—a timeline that has investors increasingly concerned. The project has already received authorization from the Moroccan side, but still requires approvals from France, Spain, and Portugal, which the cables would cross. Tags: UK MoroccoXlinks project
Ya Biladi
3 days ago
- Business
- Ya Biladi
Xlinks requests pause in UK permit process as it awaits pricing decision for Morocco–UK project
Xlinks, the company behind the 4,000 km subsea cable to deliver solar and wind-generated electricity from Morocco to the UK, has paused its application for a Development Consent Order (DCO)—a legal authorization required for large infrastructure projects in the UK. Xlinks formally requested the pause in a letter to the UK Planning Inspectorate on May 14, explaining that it wants to wait for the outcome of its Contract for Difference (CfD) bid before proceeding. The CfD is a pricing mechanism that allows renewable energy developers to lock in a fixed price for their electricity over a set period, ensuring financial stability for large-scale projects. Xlinks expects a decision in late spring and is seeking a price of £70–80 per megawatt-hour (MWh), lower than comparable projects. Aligning project stages The Planning Inspectorate's answer was swift, granting Xlinks said pause on May 15. Sources close to the project told Yabiladi that the pause is not a suspension or cancellation, but a strategic move to align project stages. «The purpose of the pause is to allow the review process to proceed as efficiently and rigorously as possible, while ensuring that the DCO can then progress rapidly», they explained. It is worth noting that the Morocco–UK Power Project aims to deliver 3.6 gigawatts (GW) of dispatchable, clean energy from solar, wind, and battery facilities in Morocco to the UK. The project, which could cost up to £24 billion, is expected to cut UK carbon emissions by 10% and reduce wholesale electricity prices by 9.3%. In 2022, the project was included in the UK's strategic energy vision and recognized as a project of national significance in 2023. For the record, Xlinks has expressed frustration over delays in receiving UK government backing for the project, warning it could move the initiative to another country. Speaking to local media in March, Sir Dave Lewis, chairman of Xlinks, said that the delays in securing government approval are undermining investor confidence.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Net zero push risks exodus of jobs to China, warns JCB heir
Ed Miliband's race to embrace net zero is fuelling an exodus of jobs to China, the heir to the JCB empire has warned. Jo Bamford, the owner of Wrightbus and son of JCB founder Lord Bamford, said the Energy Secretary's desire to decarbonise the grid was flawed because it is too reliant on importing green energy equipment from the Far East. Instead, he urged the Government to become a leader in hydrogen to safeguard jobs. He told The Telegraph: 'If you just electrify everything without thinking about what the implications are, then you'll lose a lot of jobs to China. 'You need to electrify a lot of stuff. Certain things are great for it, like cars – fantastic. But anything that's big and heavy ... Yes, you can electrify them, but it's probably not the best use of the electrification process. 'So I'm not anti-electrification. But I'm saying that most of the manufacturing jobs in that area have been taken by China already.' The entrepreneur said Britain's experience from the oil and gas industry made it well-suited to tackle the challenges of hydrogen and called on Mr Miliband to pump more investment into the sector. He said: 'We're highlighting that we [the UK] can be experts in the world of hydrogen. The Government really needs to understand that foundation industries – cement plants, glass, brewing, – they all need a gas of some form or another. It's difficult to to electrify them. 'I can make hydrogen between midnight and six o'clock in the morning quite cheaply. And you can deliver it today in London.' Mr Bamford is a leading figure in the consortium proposing the £6.5bn HySpeed project, which aims to develop hydrogen-producing hubs in the UK that would pump the carbon-free gas throughout the country. Hydrogen has been suggested as a green 'superfuel' that its supporters claim could one day be used in power plants, buses, aircraft and cars. But critics argue that hydrogen, which requires a lot of power to produce through electrolysis, should be focused only on industries that are most difficult to decarbonise, rather than heating or mass transport. This is also partly because it is less energy-efficient to burn than natural gas and more difficult to contain due to its 'leaky' nature. But Mr Bamford dismissed the concerns of academic 'commentators', who he said had little experience of building real-world things. He argued that hydrogen could create jobs in the UK and reduce the risk of relying entirely on electrified solutions. HySpeed is seeking support for about 1 gigawatt hour of hydrogen production per year through a contract for difference (CfD), the type of subsidy awarded to wind farms to guarantee a set price for their output. His company, Wrightbus, also sells hydrogen buses as well as battery-powered buses. Mr Bamford warned that focusing on electrification only would decimate traditional UK industries that will struggle to eliminate fossil fuels from their processes. Official figures this week revealed that production from energy-intensive industries had plunged by a third in just three years due to sky-high power and gas costs, taking output to the lowest level since records began in 1990. Mr Bamford said: 'If you don't figure out a way to give the industry a gas and allow them to make their process, then of course they're going to leave. 'And when a cement plant goes, you can import that from anywhere else in the world. When a glass factory goes, you can import that from anywhere else in the world. But these are foundation industries, not in capital cities but up and down the country, that provide long-term jobs. 'We can't electrify them, even if we tried. So hydrogen is going to have to be the solution. 'Electrification doesn't give you long-term jobs, and it doesn't give you a lot of the things in the supply chain. When a factory makes stuff and is incubated, that's there for the next 50 years. It's very difficult to pick it up.' He also warned that focusing exclusively on electric solutions would begin to cause 'grid issues'. 'How do you put in another bus depot, or how do you put in a data centre?' Mr Bamford said. 'At the moment, we have three motorways, in effect. We move energy through the electricity networks, we move it through the gas networks, and we pick up oil and gas and move it around in trucks. 'But if your strategy is to take the most congested network and make it 10 times more congested and get rid of the other two motorway networks, that's going to fall over.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Net zero push risks exodus of jobs to China, warns JCB heir
Ed Miliband's race to embrace net zero is fuelling an exodus of jobs to China, the heir to the JCB empire has warned. Jo Bamford, the owner of Wrightbus and son of JCB founder Lord Bamford, said the Energy Secretary's desire to decarbonise the grid was flawed because it is too reliant on importing green energy equipment from the Far East. Instead, he urged the Government to become a leader in hydrogen to safeguard jobs. He told The Telegraph: 'If you just electrify everything without thinking about what the implications are, then you'll lose a lot of jobs to China. 'You need to electrify a lot of stuff. Certain things are great for it, like cars – fantastic. But anything that's big and heavy ... Yes, you can electrify them, but it's probably not the best use of the electrification process. 'So I'm not anti-electrification. But I'm saying that most of the manufacturing jobs in that area have been taken by China already.' The entrepreneur said Britain's experience from the oil and gas industry made it well-suited to tackle the challenges of hydrogen and called on Mr Miliband to pump more investment into the sector. He said: 'We're highlighting that we [the UK] can be experts in the world of hydrogen. The Government really needs to understand that foundation industries – cement plants, glass, brewing, – they all need a gas of some form or another. It's difficult to to electrify them. 'I can make hydrogen between midnight and six o'clock in the morning quite cheaply. And you can deliver it today in London.' Mr Bamford is a leading figure in the consortium proposing the £6.5bn HySpeed project, which aims to develop hydrogen-producing hubs in the UK that would pump the carbon-free gas throughout the country. Hydrogen has been suggested as a green 'superfuel' that its supporters claim could one day be used in power plants, buses, aircraft and cars. But critics argue that hydrogen, which requires a lot of power to produce through electrolysis, should be focused only on industries that are most difficult to decarbonise, rather than heating or mass transport. This is also partly because it is less energy-efficient to burn than natural gas and more difficult to contain due to its 'leaky' nature. But Mr Bamford dismissed the concerns of academic 'commentators', who he said had little experience of building real-world things. He argued that hydrogen could create jobs in the UK and reduce the risk of relying entirely on electrified solutions. HySpeed is seeking support for about 1 gigawatt hour of hydrogen production per year through a contract for difference (CfD), the type of subsidy awarded to wind farms to guarantee a set price for their output. His company, Wrightbus, also sells hydrogen buses as well as battery-powered buses. Mr Bamford warned that focusing on electrification only would decimate traditional UK industries that will struggle to eliminate fossil fuels from their processes. Official figures this week revealed that production from energy-intensive industries had plunged by a third in just three years due to sky-high power and gas costs, taking output to the lowest level since records began in 1990. Mr Bamford said: 'If you don't figure out a way to give the industry a gas and allow them to make their process, then of course they're going to leave. 'And when a cement plant goes, you can import that from anywhere else in the world. When a glass factory goes, you can import that from anywhere else in the world. But these are foundation industries, not in capital cities but up and down the country, that provide long-term jobs. 'We can't electrify them, even if we tried. So hydrogen is going to have to be the solution. 'Electrification doesn't give you long-term jobs, and it doesn't give you a lot of the things in the supply chain. When a factory makes stuff and is incubated, that's there for the next 50 years. It's very difficult to pick it up.' He also warned that focusing exclusively on electric solutions would begin to cause 'grid issues'. 'How do you put in another bus depot, or how do you put in a data centre?' Mr Bamford said. 'At the moment, we have three motorways, in effect. We move energy through the electricity networks, we move it through the gas networks, and we pick up oil and gas and move it around in trucks. 'But if your strategy is to take the most congested network and make it 10 times more congested and get rid of the other two motorway networks, that's going to fall over.'
The Herald Scotland
19-05-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Glasgow has shown a sad lack of ambition with George Square proposals
The cost at £2.5 million was apparently deemed to be too high. Many millions of pounds have been spent on the hard landscaping required for the Avenues project which rumbles on and doesn't seem to have caught the imagination of the populace. I would argue that a fountain or a "wall of water" is fundamental to the success of the enterprise and a real justification for the redesign of this prime civic space. Once again the planners have shown a real lack of ambition for the city by denying it a feature that would provide a vibrant, visual asset long after Glasgow's 850th anniversary celebrations have been forgotten. David G Will, Milngavie. Zonal pricing is common sense ScottishPower and SSE's outcry against zonal pricing ("Kate Forbes slams 'damaging' North Sea profits tax", heraldscotland, May 14) and demands for 'simplicity' in the CfD scheme reek of self-interest disguised as public concern. Keith Anderson of ScottishPower's claims of a £30 billion investment threat, alongside Alistair Phillips-Davies' recent alarm over ScotWind projects, are classic scare tactics. Let's be clear: they're defending a pricing system that props up their profits while offloading costs onto struggling households and businesses. Equally disingenuous were Kate Forbes's new-found concerns about the 'damaging' impact of the UK's windfall tax. Zonal pricing is simple common sense: where energy is abundant, bills should be cheaper. Norway has proven it works – investment thrives, and consumer costs drop. Yet ScottishPower and SSE cling to a rigged system that inflates prices nationwide, shielding their margins from genuine competition. Mr Anderson's plea to avoid 'tampering' with a 'working' system is absurd. Working for whom? Certainly not the 6.5 million UK households in fuel poverty or the businesses fighting to stay afloat. Their warnings of higher costs are baseless fearmongering. Zonal pricing would cut bills where renewables flourish, reflecting real supply and demand. More importantly, a balanced energy policy – one that includes renewables alongside North Sea oil and gas, as well as coal – would reduce dependency on costly imports and stabilise prices. This is the only path to genuine energy security and affordability, not endless Contracts for Difference handouts to intermittent energy sources. If Ed Miliband backs zonal pricing, it would be his first sensible decision amid his bonkers Net Zero policies – policies that stifle North Sea oil and gas while increasing reliance on foreign imports, forcing the public and businesses to pay a premium compared to similarly placed countries. Enough is enough. Ian Lakin, Aberdeen. Read more letters These TV ads are disgusting Adverts at regular intervals are the price we pay for commercial TV. Those commercial breaks allow us to skip off into the kitchen to make the occasional cuppa. There have been times when the adverts on show have had an entertainment value with their subtlety, humour and clever use of language. Recently however our screens have been flooded with a spate of adverts which bring with them the cringe factor thanks to the coarseness and crudity in which they are couched. In particular I would like to point out those adverts which deal with female incontinence deodorants and indigestion remedies. Not one of them is characterised by subtlety, light humour or clever wordplay. Rather they are explicit in the extreme, leaving nothing to the imagination with their brash, bold and bald language. Is there anyone else who shrinks with disgust when those adverts occupy the screen to induce the cringe factor in the viewers, a reaction I imagine may well be more widespread rather than restricted to my prurient personality? There have been memorable adverts which have lived on in the national memory thanks to the smart work of those trying to capture the attention of the viewing audience for the products on display. Have those days now receded into the past and are we to be left exposed to more of the current crop of adverts which leave the TV audience cold? Do those productions exemplify the collapse of standards in public life, which is increasingly evident in all facets of our nation? Denis Bruce, Bishopbriggs. An offer easy to resist A wee word of warning to fellow readers considering disposing of "unwanted items cluttering your home". An advert I saw stated "Free uplift and a fair offer". Sounds good, however, on the "fair offer" issue, a variance of opinion may arise. In my case, I submitted medals (six), Scottish bank notes (two), watches (10) and cigarette card sets (two). In my own estimation of the value of total goods was between £400/£500. I received a call one week later. In a very civil manner the rep remarked on the good condition of many of the items (for example, the medals being worth £50-plus). Finally, when pressed he made an offer of £75 (all inclusive). A derisory offer to end a promising exchange. Hopefully my great expectations consignment will be returned to me intact ASAP. Allan C Steele, Giffnock. Keith Anderson of ScottishPower (Image: PA) Banking? What's that? May I add a necessary addendum to Ian McConnell's rose-tinted writing of his younger journalist years following the Royal Bank of Scotland ('The tumultuous tale of a great Scottish hope', The Herald, May 16)? When the Royal Bank of Scotland imploded (and it self-imploded) not a single member of its board was a professionally qualified banker, not even its managing director – who had been appointed by his predecessor in his own image. Enough said. Graeme Smith, Newton Mearns.
