News that the government was to review the project was likely to please some, however; the proposed plant had come in for criticism, with opponents saying it would tie United Kingdom consumers into hefty bills for years to come, as well as environmental concerns.
Advertisement
The French utility, EDF, the company financing most of the £18bn project, is holding a board meeting at which it is expected to approve the investment.
“We demand that the Hinkley Point deal is scrapped and the plans for a new generation of nuclear power plants are stopped”.
The timetable of an “early autumn” decision whether to agree to CfD closely matches a previously rumoured decision time of September.
CGN said in a statement it “respects” the British government’s “need to familiarize itself with a project as important to the UK’s future energy security”. Although the government had been expected to sign contracts with EDF there and then, Clark actually said it won’t make a decision on the plant in the autumn.
“I have no doubt about the support of the British government led by Mrs May”, he said. The last nuclear plant to open was Sizewell B in 1995.
Three major French unions said in a statement Friday “we know the success conditions are not all met”.
Many opponents of the development have also voiced fears that it is a bad deal for customers and taxpayers.
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”.
Gerard Magnin, who was among six people representing the French state on the EDF board, wrote in a letter that the AP was able to read: “I don’t want to endorse any longer a strategy that I don’t share”.
Shadow Energy Secretary Barry Gardiner slammed the terms of Hinkley Point as a “bad deal” and said the Tory government should have had a back-up plan.
And Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, called on the government to make a decision as soon as possible.
HPC will supply 7% of the UK’s electricity at strike price of £92.50 ($121.57) per megawatt hour (MWh).
Chancellor Philip Hammond said recently that the scheme was “still worth the cost”, suggesting that customers’ bills would rise once the plant was up and running.
While many have forecast doom for the project, we see it as an opportunity to prove to the world the strength of our contractors, delivering outstanding results on a technically challenging project, and hopefully inspiring a new generation to join an industry that is powering the future of the United Kingdom economy.
Advertisement
“It probably still would go ahead but it does cast some additional doubt on whether (the government) will look for alternatives in the meantime”, he added.
