However, the Hinkley saga faced fresh delays after the UK Government last night announced it will review the deal before signing it off, with a decision now likely in “early autumn”.
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But according to a report in The Guardian, energy secretary Greg Clark said that the government “will now consider carefully all the component parts of this project and make its decision in the early autumn”.
“It is only right we look at the details before making a decision”, she added.
Ian Liddell-Grainger, Rebecca Pow, James Heappey and Marcus Fysh all welcomed the result of the EDF vote, with Mr Liddell-Grainger stressing its importance to local communities. John Sauven, the Executive Director of Greenpeace, called the project “terrible value for money”.
“The Government should be embracing new innovative technologies that are powering Northern European countries already and coming down in price every year”.
It came after politicians from all parties raised fears about the enormous cost of the project, which will give EDF a guaranteed £92.50 for each unit of electricity.
The decision to delay stunned many, catching out business organisations which had lobbied long and hard for the government to press ahead with plans that had been a cornerstone of energy policy under the then-Prime Minister David Cameron and the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne.
French utility giant EDF has reportedly given the go-ahead to its proposed £18 billion ($23.7 billion) Hinkley Point C (HPC) nuclear power station, to be built in southwest England, Kallanish Energy reports.
But following the Government statement, it emerged that no interviews would take place. “If this pause equals a genuine rethink by Government, that’s very good news”.
Officials from China General Nuclear, a state-owned nuclear power company, were also expected to be at an event in Somerset.
Shadow energy secretary Barry Gardiner said the Government is in “absolute chaos”.
The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy had also expected the deal be signed off soon after EDF approved it.
The Government has been warned that thousands of jobs are being put at risk by its “bewildering” decision to pull back from signing a deal to build the first new nuclear power station in the United Kingdom for a generation.
“CGN remains committed to delivering this much needed nuclear capacity with our strategic partners EDF, and providing the United Kingdom with safe, reliable and sustainable energy”.
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In a statement, EDF said the plant would be a “unique asset for French and British industries as it will benefit the whole of the nuclear sectors in both countries and will support employment at major companies and smaller enterprises in the industry”.
