21.10.13
Hinkley nuclear power plant plans confirmed
A consortium led by EDF Energy will build the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in Somerset, the Government has announced.
The contract guarantees the group £92.50 for every megawatt hour of energy the plant generates, which is almost twice the current cost of electricity. This will drop to £89.50 if the group goes ahead with plans for another new power station in Suffolk.
Two new reactors will cost an estimated £16bn to build and will provide power for around 60 years. Around 25,000 jobs will be needed during construction and 900 permanently during operation, but the Government says it has extracted guarantees that mean a substantial amount of the workers and companies involved will be British.
The existing Hinkley plant currently provides 1% of the UK’s total energy, and is expected to provide 7% once the expansion is complete in 2023.
Energy secretary Ed Davey said: “For the first time, a nuclear station in this country will not have been built with money from the British taxpayer. While consumers won't pay anything up front, they'll share directly in any gains made from the project coming in under budget.”
Prime minister David Cameron said: “This underlines the confidence there is in Britain and makes clear that we are very much open for business.”
EDF is majority-owned by the French government, while substantial investment is also coming from a company wholly-owned by the Chinese state.
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(Construction image copyright EDF)
