The agreement now states the government can prevent the sale of EDF’s controlling stake before the completion of construction without any prior notification or agreement.
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The delay in approving the new nuclear plant, which will be the first in a generation, also caused tension with the French government because EDF had approved funding for the project despite serious concerns about the company’s ability to absorb the huge costs.
As part of the agreement, though, the government also announced “significant new safeguards” that will impose restrictions on foreign investment on critical United Kingdom infrastructure, with the ostensible aim of improving national security.
“The new arrangement for a Government special share changes nearly nothing on the Hinkley deal and time will tell what it means for Bradwell in Essex, which is due to use Chinese technology”.
The British government has given the go-ahead for a controversial nuclear power plant financially backed by China, after promising steps would be taken to protect critical national infrastructure.
France’s EDF had agreed to pay for two-thirds of the project, with China paying one-third.
In response to security concerns over Chinese involvement in Britain’s nuclear industry, the government also said it will in the future take a special share in all foreign investments in “critical” United Kingdom infrastructure, including future nuclear plants.
The government says that 26,000 jobs and apprenticeships will be created as part of the Hinkley Point C project.
Responding to the decision, George Rafferty, chief executive of Durham-based NOF, which supports hundreds of oil, gas, nuclear and renewables firms, said the region’s businesses were well placed to support Hinkley’s evolution.
The government has given the go ahead for a new £18bn nuclear power station in the United Kingdom after imposing “significant new safeguards” to protect national security.
The decision to separate the two projects risks angering Beijing, which wanted to use Bradwell to showcase its growing nuclear expertise.
British Secretary of State for Energy Greg Clark said the government will introduce measures to ensure the power plant can’t change hands without its consent.
Both the French and Chinese interests in Hinkley Point appear to agree to the new legal framework.
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EDF Group chairman Jean-Bernard Lévy said: “The decision of the British Government to proceed with Hinkley Point C marks the relaunch of nuclear in Europe”. “This will ensure that significant stakes can not be sold without the government’s knowledge or consent”, the government said in a statement. “It is extraordinary that they have not reviewed the price per unit of power”, said Barry Gardiner, the opposition Labour Party’s energy spokesman. The U.K. National Audit Office estimated in July that consumer-funded top-ups over the project’s 35-year lifetime may total nearly 30 billion pounds, after Cameron’s government agreed in 2013 to pay EDF 92.50 pounds a megawatt-hour for electricity from the plant.
