The French government has gone cap in hand to the British taxpayer to cover the costs of nuclear power projects undertaken by the energy company EDF in the UK, according to a French official.
The official has told the Financial Times that Paris is advocating for a “global solution” to address funding challenges at both the Sizewell C plant and the new Hinkley Point facility in Somerset.
This comes after French-operated EDF recently admitted that the construction costs at Hinkley Point have risen by up to £10 billion, totalling £35 billion. Meanwhile, completion of the site’s reactors is expected to be delayed by up to four years.
Earlier this week, the UK government pledged an additional £1.3 billion in funding for the construction of Sizewell C, a planned nuclear plant in Sussex owned by EDF and the government.
Earlier this week, the UK government pledged an additional £1.3 billion in funding for the construction of Sizewell C, a planned nuclear plant in Sussex owned by EDF and the government.
British taxpayers own a stake in the plant after the government divested from China General Nuclear’s partial ownership due to security concerns.
EDF and the UK government have said the plant will become a major source of decarbonized electricity supply for the UK, generating enough to power six million homes and providing some seven percent of the country’s electricity.
The Conservative government is investing heavily in nuclear power, with ambitions to generate up to a quarter of the country’s projected electricity demand by 2050.
The move has divided opinion and drawn criticism from green groups.
Some experts say nuclear energy will be needed to help nations wean off fossil fuels, but there are concerns about the substantial cost and timescale of building large nuclear reactors as well as worries over safety and nuclear waste.
Other clean energy, such as wind farms, can be built and come online much faster.
Stuart Crooks, managing director of Hinkley Point C said: “Like other infrastructure projects, we have found civil construction slower than we hoped and faced inflation, labour and material shortages — on top of Covid and Brexit disruption.”
