About the Proposed Development
We held a statutory public consultation on our updated proposals for the UK element of the Xlinks Morocco-UK Power Project (the ‘Project’) between 16 May and 11 July 2024. You can find the information we published as part of the consultation on this page.
Securing development consent
Last year, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero recognised the elements of the Project in the UK (the ‘Proposed Development’) as nationally significant and requiring development consent under section 35 of the Planning Act 2008. This recognised the major contribution it could make to the country’s need for clean, secure and reliable energy.
The change means we need to apply for a Development Consent Order (DCO) from the Secretary of State to construct and operate the Proposed Development, rather than seeking planning permission from Torridge District Council.
The DCO application process is managed by the Planning Inspectorate on behalf of the Secretary of State. You can find out more information about the DCO process by visiting the Planning Inspectorate’s website: infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk
Consultation
Consultation is an important part of the DCO process as it enables the public and stakeholders to comment on the proposals. We have conducted three rounds of consultation, which have been vital to shaping our proposals to date.
Most recently, we carried out a round of consultation from 16 May to 11 July 2024. This was called a ‘statutory public consultation’ because it fulfilled the legal requirement to consult on nationally significant projects. As part of the consultation, we held events in the local area and online, published information about our proposals, and invited feedback from stakeholders and the community.
We are grateful to everyone who took part in the consultation. The feedback we have received will help us to refine our proposals before we submit a DCO application. All feedback received will be summarised and responded to in the Consultation Report, which will form part of our DCO application.
Document library
This section includes the documents we published as part of our statutory public consultation, which took place between 16 May and 11 July 2024.
Morocco-UK Power Project Statutory Consultations
The recordings below are of the webinars we carried out during the statutory public consultation:
Webinar 29 May 2024
Webinar 5 June 2024
Frequently Asked Questions
Our project needs to connect at the optimal location in terms of transmission capacity and efficiency. This means it can deliver more renewable energy at a lower cost to Britain’s households.
We worked with National Grid to identify the optimal connection site. Agreement has been reached with National Grid for two 1.8GW connections at this site.
We are committed to explore all opportunities to contribute to social and economic development in Devon, including through the tender of work packages during the construction of the project and through the establishment of a community benefit fund.
It is our priority to be a good neighbour to Devon’s communities and natural environment. We aim to deliver a net positive environmental impact for biodiversity.
Finally, our project represents nationally-significant action in line with the principles of the Devon Climate Declaration.
All cables will be installed underground, with land reinstated to its previous use. There will be no permanent infrastructure above-ground along the route.
At the converter station site, the design process will use substantial screening to minimise visual impact.
Post-construction noise will be minimal, with very few moving parts, occasional inspections and maintenance, and a small operational team.
We will seek to minimise disruption to local roads during construction by transporting large, infrequent, converter station components from a local port by road at the lowest point of traffic density. We will use construction haul roads along the underground cable route to remove frequent vehicle movements from the public highway. Additionally, materials will be transported to strategically located compounds adjacent to the A39, A386 and Gammaton Road.