The Times - UK (2020-08-07)

20 2GM Friday August 7 2020 | the times

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letter Eurotunnel calls that “a delaying

tactic”. Eurotunnel would not comment

on a leaked letter but a spokesman said:

“The question should be why British

experts are still delaying their approval

when the French safety authority has

given its green light. Could it be related

to Aquind or other interconnector pro-

jects, or is it just shocking inefficiency?”

Aquind is a British-registered firm

and political donations are properly

made and declared. The planning deci-

sion on the Aquind scheme — a 2gw

cable it claims would provide up to 5 per

cent of UK power — will be made by the

energy minister, Kwasi Kwarteng.

A transport department spokesman

said that assessment of the Eurotunnel

project was continuing and: “We will

not compromise on rail safety.”

ANDREW MILLIGAN/PA

Eurotunnel rival

to energy project

is left in limbo

Boris Johnson has been threatened

with legal action over delays to an

energy project amid concern that his

ministers are focusing on a rival scheme

backed by Tory donors.

Eurotunnel’s £600 million plan to lay

a cable linking the British and French

power grids through the Channel

Tunnel has been delayed at a cost of

hundreds of millions of pounds in lost

revenue. The Times has seen a legal let-

ter to the body overseeing the tunnel,

copied to the prime minister, which

warns: “Any further delay in deciding

whether to proceed with the project

would further increase this loss, forcing

Eurotunnel to seek compensation by

using all legal means at its disposal.”

Ministers backed the tunnel scheme

in 2017 and the company has built con-

verter stations, manufactured the 1gw

cable and received the go-ahead from

French regulators. “They’re ready to go

and no one knows what the hold-up is,”

a Whitehall source said.

There is concern in the energy sector

that the government is favouring an

undersea interconnector proposed by

Aquind, a large donor with close ties to

the Conservative Party.

Aquind’s owner, whose identity had

been hidden by Companies House, is

Viktor Fedotov, a former executive in

the Russian oil industry. One of

Aquind’s directors is the Tory activist

and donor Alexander Temerko, 53, who

ran a Russian state arms business and

was an oil executive before he fled

Russia in 2004. Since 2011 Mr Temerko

or companies he is associated with have

given £1.3 million to the Conservatives,

including sums to five cabinet ministers

or their constituency parties.

Eurotunnel, which makes no political

donations, needs final safety approval

from UK officials on the Channel Tun-

nel intergovernmental commission.

Britain missed a July 24 deadline for a

decision, blaming Covid-19. In its legal

Sean O’Neill Chief Reporter

Head start An art and whisky auction at Lyon and Turnbull, Edinburgh, includes a 19th-century ram’s head valued at £

Behind the story

O

fgem and the government

have encouraged the

construction of

“interconnectors” such as

Aquind’s between Britain and the

continent to improve the security

of the power supply and support

the shift to greener energy

(Emily Gosden writes).

When output from British

wind and solar farms is low,

French nuclear power can be

imported; when it is high, France

can use British electricity.

Most interconnectors are laid

along the seabed but there is a

plan for one, called Eleclink, to

go through the Channel Tunnel.

Interconnector operators sell the

right to use the cable to

international electricity traders.

National Grid is building

further links with France,

Norway and Denmark, scheduled

for completion this year, next

year and in 2023 respectively.

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