Theresa May will approve Hinkley Point nuclear power plant despite warnings it is a ‘terrible deal’ for customers
The deal between EDF and the Coalition government agreed a £1.6billion annual subsidy that would add £22 to household bills
THERESA MAY is set to approve plans for an £18 billion nuclear power plant in Somerset – despite warnings that it’s a “terrible deal” for bill payers.
Sources claimed the Prime Minister would finally give the go-ahead to Hinkley Point C today after delaying a decision earlier this summer because of worries about the involvement of the Chinese state.
Conditional approval is also expected for a separate site in Bradwell, Essex.
It follows a last minute wobble by Business Secretary Greg Clark on Monday.
One insider told the Sun: “It’s happening.”
Hinkley is due to be built by the French owned EDF Energy with financial backing from China General Nuclear Power (CGN) - run by Beijing.
The project is set to create 25,000 jobs and will plug a huge gap in Britain’s energy infrastructure.
But it has been dogged for years by concerns over EDF’s finances and fears about the technology EDF plan to use in the reactor.
And energy analysts claim households will be saddled with huge costs because of the lucrative terms offered to EDF by the Coalition in 2013 for the electricity Hinkley generates.
EDF is guaranteed a ‘strike price’ of £92.50 per megawatt hour- double the current market rate.
If operating now, EDF would get a £1.6 billion subsidy this year, with households picking up £675 million and business the rest. This would add £22 to everyone’s power bills.
Peter Atherton of Cornwall Energy said: “It’s a terrible deal for consumers.”
George Osborne provisionally agreed the contracts for Hinkley last year as part of a bid to create a “golden decade” of relations between the UK and China.
But Mrs May put the deal on ice in July after questioning the role of the Chinese state.
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Nick Timothy, Mrs May’s joint chief of staff, had previously waned that the Chinese could use their role in the programme to “build weaknesses into computer systems which will allow them to shut down Britain’s energy production at will”.
Downing Street said a decision would be made by the end of September, but Parliament rises today for the party conference season.
Under the deal it signed with EDF, CGN will invest in Hinkley but then use its own reactor at Bradwell and Sizewell in Suffolk.
Justin Bowden of the GMB Union last night said: “Giving the thumbs up to Hinkley is vital to fill the growing hole in the UK’s energy needs.
“But the Government should never have allowed the country to be held over a Chinese barrel.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokeswoman said the deadline for a decision on Hinkley Point remained the end of September.
Asked whether the decision has to be announced in the Commons she would only say that Ministers will “keep Parliament updated on the decision moving forward”.