Tuesday 23 September 2014

Hinkley Point C to get EU rubber stamp reveals leak

A new nuclear power station in Somerset could be rubber stamped by the European Commission next month, a leak suggested this week.

French energy company EDF has already begun building the foundations of Hinkley Point C and the nuclear supply chain has anxiously awaited news of its approval.

Developments this week suggested they need fear no longer for the £16 billion project's future.

Prompted by media reports, a spokesman for the EU’s Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told the Guardian he would “propose to the college of commissioners to take a positive decision”.

They added this meant the decision could be taken in October.

Doubts about the approval had previously been raised after Almunia did not the power plant’s 25-year deal with the UK government would fall within EU competition rules.

He said British authorities would have to justify an agreement to pay £92.50 per megawatt for electricity from the power plant for its lifetime. That’s roughly double current wholesale electricity prices, reported Reuters.