Britain has committed to pay a minimum price for the power generated by Hinkley for 35 years.
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State-owned China General Nuclear Power Corp will put up 33.5 per cent of the cost of building Hinkley.
General Electric Co said it will receive US$1.9 billion for a contract to supply steam turbines, generators and other equipment to the Hinkley Point C project, the United Kingdom’s first new nuclear power plant in decades.
The government of new Prime Minister Theresa May, a conservative, approved the Hinkley Point C plant after postponing the decision in July.
“Having thoroughly reviewed the proposal for Hinkley Point C, we will introduce a series of measures to enhance security and will ensure Hinkley can not change hands without the government’s agreement”, Greg Clark, business minister, said in a statement.
The French energy giant is pressing ahead with the £18 billion Hinkley power station after m inisters ended uncertainty by saying they had reached a “new agreement”, imposing “significant new safeguards” for future foreign investment in critical infrastructure. Instead, the changes regard to the government’s ability to veto EDF from selling its controlling stake prior to the construction completion and to intervene when the plant is operational.
“It is extraordinary that they have not reviewed the price per unit of power”, said Mr Barry Gardiner, the opposition Labour Party’s energy spokesman. According to ex-business minister Vince Cable, Mrs May had concerns over the “gung-ho” attitude that her predecessor, Mr David Cameron, took towards courting Chinese investment.
China began a three-day national holiday yesterday.
But an aide to President François Hollande said May had called the French leader to say “she supported the launch of the Hinkley project”.
On Thursday, the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy announced: “After Hinkley, the British government will take a special share in all future nuclear new build projects”.
The British government announced Thursday that it would push ahead with a contentious deal to build a nuclear power station financed in part with French and Chinese investment, but only after making changes meant to address security concerns. Bradwell would be a Chinese-led project, using Chinese reactor technology.
He said he hoped the Britain would keep its door open to China.
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The company can now work with its partner, the French utility firm EDF, to provide Britain with a safe, reliable, sustainable source of low carbon energy, it said on its official Weibo microblog.
