“During Xi’s visit to London, the two governments will sign deals giving Chinese state-owned companies stakes in the British nuclear power stations planned for Hinkley Point in Somerset and Sizewell in Suffolk”.
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Analysts and unions said the review under new Prime Minister Theresa May would likely delay the project further, put finance in doubt and jobs at risk.
“The government will now consider carefully all the component parts of this project and make its decision in the early autumn”, U.K. Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark said.
The 18 billion pound ($24 billion) nuclear reactors carry huge risks for both France and Britain.
A statement said: “We respect the new Government’s need to familiarise itself with a project as important to the UK’s future energy security as Hinkley Point C and we stand ready to help the Government in this respect”.
EDF is now expected to sign contracts with the British government, China General Nuclear Power Generation and the main suppliers of the project.
A decision to back the project will require a simple majority among EDF’s board members.
Sky’s Poppy Trowbridge, reporting from outside the site in Somerset, said: “I understand this isn’t the Government trying to unpick any of the terms of the deal”.
The country, one of the oldest nuclear power generating nations in the world, is relying on new nuclear plants like Hinkley Point to replace ageing stations.
Hinkley has suffered a setback nearly immediately, as the government delays a decision on whether or not to approve the £18 billion nuclear project until the autumn.
He added: “Today’s decision doesn’t prove the United Kingdom is open for business post Brexit – it just shows the Hinkley deal became too big to fail in the eyes of British and French politicians”. John Sauven, the Executive Director of Greenpeace, called the project “terrible value for money”.
Previous British governments have also been in favour because the reactors will cover up to seven percent of Britain’s electricity needs while helping the government meet its CO2 emissions targets because of relatively low carbon emissions from nuclear energy.
Bowden said: “After years of procrastination, what is required is decisive action not dithering and more delay”.
They were also concerned that the plant is being built by foreign governments.
The strike price, which will be paid for through consumer bills, is significantly above current wholesale electricity prices and higher than most renewables, apart from offshore wind – where costs are predicted to fall.
EDF said the longer depreciation of its 900 megawatt series reactors – excluding one in Fessenheim which the government wants to close – boosted first-half net income excluding non-recurring items by 300 million euros and would boost full-year net by 600 million euros.
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“One is skepticism about the Chinese involvement in the project, I’d be surprised if the Home Office and its related organizations didn’t have concerns about that”.
