“This was our perfect paradise,” Tony Sloan said of the home he and his wife built for their retirement.
It overlooks a small, gently rolling valley on the North Devon coast, where the fields slope gently down to the sea.
Cables of about 4,000 kilometers long could come ashore here, Bringing Moroccan wind and solar energy to the UK in a project designated as being of national importance by the UK government.
“I feel devastated,” the 76-year-old said, “the environment will be in chaos for years.”
His wife, Ann Sloan, 75, said the scale of the planned project was “colossal”.
She said, “It’s quiet, you hear the birds, but with this proposal we’re going to have noise, lights, trucks and drills.”
Mr Sloan added: “What tourists are going to want to come here if the area is completely devastated?”
‘World’s longest cable’
According to the initiators of the proposed Xlinks Morocco-UK Power Project, the project could supply electricity to seven million households by the early 2030s.
CEO James Humfrey said it would provide energy “when the UK needs it most, which is in the evenings”.
“This will be the longest cable in the world, but it is the same technology that has been used elsewhere. This is a proven technology.”
Mr Humfrey added: “I understand the concerns of residents and we want to work on them.” He added that the scheme is a nationally important infrastructure project that could help reduce the UK’s carbon emissions.
The cables will be connected to a solar, wind and battery park in Morocco, importing renewable energy into the national electricity grid.
Over a period of up to two years, four cables would be laid onshore in North Devon, covering a distance of approximately 9 miles (14.5 km).
In addition to the existing substation at Alverdiscott, a new electricity substation would also be built, along with two new converter stations, on a site of approximately 32 hectares (79 acres).
If planning permission is granted, construction work in Devon will take six years to complete.
‘Crazy idea’
“I like the idea of green energy, but to bring it from Morocco now is a crazy idea,” said farmer David Lomas, owner of the land where the cables are to come ashore.
The 69-year-old says he risks losing “20% of his productive agricultural land” during the construction of the project.
He added: “It will disrupt the local community and the landowners for at least five years, if not longer.”
Last year, the government recognised the British components of the Xlinks Morocco-UK Power Project as nationally significant.
The next stages of the planning process are complex and can take several years. The Secretary of State will ultimately decide whether the plan will go ahead.
‘Best place’
Mr Humphrey said Xlinks believed the location was the “best place” to bring the cables ashore.
“We have worked with National Grid and this is a point where we don’t need to do major grid upgrades. And there is a need for electricity in the South West, as well as connection to the wider grid,” he said.
The company expects the project to result in approximately 545 additional vehicle movements per day, 105 of which will be by heavy trucks.
Most would travel back and forth to the converter station at the Alverdiscott substation.
Temporary haul roads would also be built in fields to keep construction traffic off public roads, and along sites to keep the number of journeys to a minimum.
An existing country road could be widened in places to allow for the transport of ‘abnormal indivisible loads’, such as transformers.
“It’s stressful,” said Adam Bridge, who lives near a planned haul road.
“It will completely change life here, it is quiet and peaceful. It will essentially be a building site running right next to the house,” the 59-year-old said.
The project is estimated to cost between £22 and £24 billion and the project’s proponents say it will be funded by shareholders and investors.
“We have strong support from our shareholders, we have had excellent cooperation with the Moroccan government itself and the British government and we have had a lot of interest from other investors and banks,” said Mr Humfrey.
‘Global network’
“If you go back to the late 1980s when the British telecoms companies laid the first internet cable, and now there are hundreds of cables running around the world, we believe this will be the first long-distance electricity cable, you will see the same thing happening.
“You get a global electricity grid that allows us to generate renewable energy at scale around the world and decarbonize the world’s largest source of carbon emissions.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “We are taking immediate action in our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower.
“We have already removed barriers to onshore wind, approved more solar than was installed in the past year and made plans for a revolution in rooftop solar.
“The new government-owned Great British Energy – backed by £8.3 billion – will also boost investment in clean, domestic energy projects.”
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