The power station was originally meant to open next year but that has now slipped to 2025.
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In a letter seen by AFP, Gerard Magnin said he could no longer support France’s strategy to push nuclear energy at the expense of other options.
These guarantee a price of £92.50 – rising with inflation – for every unit of electricity produced, more than double the current market price.
Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark said: “The UK needs a reliable and secure energy supply and the Government believes that nuclear energy is an important part of the mix”.
Dale Edwards, chief executive of the Somerset Chamber of Commerce, said: “The final investment decision by EDF Energy for the construction of Hinkley Point C is a significant and positive shot in the arm for the South West and South Wales economies”. This is more than twice the cost of existing wholesale electricity prices.
However, it is testament to the government and EDF’s chronic mishandling of the Hinkley project that the benefits associated with the development are not more widely appreciated.
In the wake of Mr Piquemal’s resignation, Jean-Bernard Levy, chairman and chief executive of EDF Group, wrote to staff in March saying that although the financial context was “challenging”, the scheme was a “a good project for the group”.
EDF said that the pouring of the first concrete of reactor 1 of HPC, scheduled for mid-2019, will coincide with the expected start-up of the EPR nuclear reactor it is building at Flamanville, France, which is scheduled for the end of 2018.
Six union representatives on the board as well as Laurence Parisot, the former head of the French employers’ organisation, are said to have opposed going ahead.
ClientEarth Director of Programmes Karla Hill said: “This deal is less than visionary and centralises the UK’s power production even more when the government should be creating a decentralised energy system for the future”.
Hinkley Point C is expected to generate enough electricity to meet seven per cent of the UK’s needs, powering about 5.8m homes. The UK, and Ireland, could be leading the world in renewable energy as it’s a prime candidate for wave farming.
The 18 billion-pound ($24 billion) nuclear reactors carry commercial risks for both France and Britain.
Confusingly, the government’s energy priority for the next decade must be simultaneously delivering Hinkley Point, while driving rapid progress in those emission saving technologies that could yet prove the Somerset project is indeed the radioactively expensive white elephant that its critics have always claimed.
In a surprise move, the British government said it would take time to consider the project, rather than giving it the green light immediately.
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“We need strong, positive policies on renewables and energy efficiency, rather than relying on big, centralised and heavily subsidised projects like Hinkley”.
