Plans for a £1.4bn subsea power link between Portsmouth and Normandy, France, have been revitalised after London’s high court overturned a government decision to scrap them.
Developer Aquind requested a judicial review after the plans were rejected by former business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng in January, prior to his time as chancellor.
Aquind, which is part-owned by Russian-born Viktor Fedotov and Ukrainian-born Tory party donor Alexander Temerko, suggests the cable could help meet 5% of the UK’s electricity demand by transporting it from France, also providing 3% of France’s power when needs be using an alternating current connection.
High court judge Nathalie Lieven argued Kwarteng “erred in law” and hadn’t followed the business department’s national policy statement on energy, which governs decisions on “nationally significant” development proposals.
The government responded saying it was “disappointed,” but would “be considering the judgment carefully before deciding next steps”.
The decision now rests with current business secretary Grant Shapps.
Aquind had spent £60mln on preliminary work, but faced opposition, partially based on its backing by Russian and Ukrainian born tycoons Fedotov and Temerko.
MP Penny Mordant joined local residents and environmental groups that warned the plans could “damage national security”.
"We look forward to re-engaging with local residents, stakeholders, environmental experts, and energy professionals in order to pursue the commitment to meeting the UK's net zero energy target,” commented Aquind director Richard Glasspool.
The UK currently has 3GW worth of electrical interconnector capacity with France, which Aquind’s cable would raise to 5GW.
It also has a combined 4.4GW of capacity with the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, while several new links are in the pipeline, including with Germany.