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”.
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Britain’s government has said it will launch a new review into a controversial project to build two new nuclear reactors led by French utility EDF, the country’s first new nuclear plant in decades.
The board meeting got underway at 1230 GMT and a decision may only come late in the evening.
Just hours earlier, one member of the board resigned in protest, describing Hinkley as “very risky”.
“As a board member proposed by the government shareholder, I no longer want to support a strategy that I do not agree with”, Magnin wrote in his letter to EDF CEO and Chairman Jean-Bernard Lévy, adding “Let’s hope that Hinkley Point will not drag EDF into the same abyss as Areva”.
Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark said in a brief statement: “The UK needs a reliable and secure energy supply and the Government believes that nuclear energy is an important part of the mix”.
Before the deal can go ahead it must be approved by Prime Minister Theresa May, who will consider the details of the project before a final decision, expected in the autumn, the government said.
The Sizewell B nuclear power plant was the last to go online in Britain, starting generation in 1995.
Weighing on its viability is the decision of French nuclear company Areva to drop out because of financial difficulties and the subsequent takeover of Areva’s obligations by EDF at the behest of the French government, which owns 85 percent of EDF.
The proposed plant is set to become the first new nuclear plant to be built in the United Kingdom in 20 years at an existing site in Somerset.
Unions fear for EDF’s financial survival and have asked for a delay of at least three years of any decision on the British nuclear plans, even waging a court battle to stop the momentum.
While one third of the £18bn costs of the project is being met by Chinese investors, Hinkley Point would remain an enormous undertaking for the stressed French company.
However, the British Chambers of Commerce acting director general Adam Marshall said: “While there will always be debate around the cost of major projects, the price of inaction is larger still”.
Hinkley Point C is expected to generate enough electricity to meet seven per cent of the UK’s needs, powering about 5.8m homes.
Critics believe the Government has been stung by criticism of the amount of money EDF will be paid for generating power from Hinkley – £92.50 per unit of electricity generated. That is more than twice the cost of existing, wholesale electricity prices.
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He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “Originally it was supposed to be that the bill-payer would pay £6 billion over the lifetime of the project but the national audit office has now said that will be £30 billion – so five times what was originally predicated here”.
