Hinkley Point

EU regulators set to clear Britain's 19 billion euro nuclear project - sources

Thursday, September 18, 2014

(Reuters) - European Union state aid regulators are set to approve Britain's 19-billion-euro (£15 billion) plan to build a nuclear plant with French utility EDF, several people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The case is important for Britain, which wants to replace a fifth of its ageing nuclear power and coal plants over the coming decade, and for France, whose nuclear sector would benefit from the major export contract.

Other EU countries such as Germany, which is phasing out nuclear energy, and pro-nuclear Lithuania and Poland are also following the case for guidance on the level of state aid allowed for such projects.

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EDF nuclear deal is a bad economic bet

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Rising renewables output makes promise to buy Hinkley Point electricity at twice its current price a costly gamble

It has always been difficult to see what was attractive about the proposed deal with EDF to build a nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point in Somerset. To bring this off the government is offering to sell 35 years of index-linked tax receipts to the French government to buy electricity at twice its current price.

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European Commission likely to find Hinkley aid illegal - expert

Thursday, May 8, 2014

The European Commission will almost certainly find that EDF Energy's funding mechanism for the construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear unit in the UK is illegal state aid, an Austrian law professor told Platts.

Franz Leidenmuhler, who specializes in EU state aid cases and European competition law, said in an email that he believed "a rejection is nearly unavoidable. The Statement of the Commission in its first findings of December 18, 2013 is too clear. I do not think that some conditions could change that clear result."

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UK 'still to notify EC on back-end nuclear waste management plan': DECC

Friday, February 7, 2014

The UK's back-end nuclear waste management plans for new-build reactors have yet to be notified to the European Commission for State Aid clearance, the Department of Energy and Climate Change told Platts Wednesday.

A notification relating to the Hinkley Investment Contract, ancillary agreements and state credit guarantee was submitted by the UK to the EC on October 22, 2013. It is this notification that the EC has decided to put through an in-depth State Aid investigation.

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Brussels says state aid deal for Hinkley Point is illegal

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Plans by EDF Energy to build Britain's first nuclear reactor for a generation were in disarray last night after Brussels said that the controversial subsidy deal agreed with the Government could amount to illegal state aid.

In a withering initial assessment, the European Commission said that consumers would end up paying up to £17.6 billion of "super-normal" subsidies via their energy bills to EDF Energy, which is controlled by the French Government.

Its most damning objection was that the subsidies were entirely unnecessary, since nuclear power would become economic by the end of the next decade, according to the Government's own forecasts.

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Areva may use French fund to help pay for UK nuclear plant - paper

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

PARIS (Reuters) - Areva is in talks with the French government to release some funds set aside for dismantling its nuclear installations in France to help the company finance a new British nuclear reactor, a newspaper reported.

Britain signed a deal with France's state-owned utility EDF in October to build a 16-billion pound nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in southwest Britain, the first new plant in Europe since the Fukushima disaster.

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Security fears over 'Orwellian' Chinese nuclear deal

Sunday, December 1, 2013

It was hailed by UK Chancellor George Osborne as a "new dawn" - but serious questions remain about the security implications of Britain's nuclear energy deal with China.

The UK government has refused to say whether China's planned investment in the British nuclear industry was approved by the National Security Council - the body that assess the risks from foreign investment in critical national infrastructure projects.

Chancellor George Osborne announced during his trip to China in October that Chinese state owned companies CGN and CNNC would be allowed to take a 40% stake in the company planning to build the Hinkley C nuclear power station in Somerset.

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Hinkley gamble worries economic analysts

Thursday, October 31, 2013

The government's agreement to underwrite the Hinkley Point nuclear power station could turn out to be economically insane and hugely costly to consumers, City analysts have warned.

Analysts at Liberum Capital said the government's deal with France's EDF will make Hinkley Point the most expensive power station in the world with the longest construction period in the world.

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EU to examine aid for UK nuclear deal

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

AFP - The European Commission said Tuesday it would examine British government support for a massive 19-billion-euro nuclear plant to be built by French and Chinese firms.

London announced Monday plans for two reactors to be built by French energy giant EDF, backed by the world's leading nuclear power company, Areva of France, and Chinese nuclear firms CGN and CNNC.

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The birthing pains of new nuclear

Sunday, October 6, 2013

With a deal over subsidies now weeks away, Emily Gosden looks back at the tortuous path to this point and the challenges that remain.

Ed Davey was adamant. He had never given a “day-by-day or week-by-week account” of the negotiations with EDF, and nor was he about to start — no matter how much the assembled journalists wanted to know whether a deal to build Britain’s first reactor in a generation would finally be agreed in the few weeks before the energy firm’s end-of-year deadline.

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