EDF Delays U.K. Nuclear Investment Decision until May

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Électricité de France S.A. (EPA:EDF) (Paris, France) has pushed back its final investment decision on the $26 billion Hinkley Point C nuclear power project in the U.K. until May but has confirmed that it will go ahead.

Speaking to the U.K. parliament's Energy and Climate Change Committee, EDF UK chief executive, Vincent de Rivaz, said the project will "categorically" go ahead and that the investment decision will come in early May. That decision was expected in February but was postponed after EDF sought further assurances from the French government that it would financially support the company and the project. For additional information, see March 15, 2016, article - EDF Struggles to Secure Funding for U.K. Nuclear Project.

"I can say clearly and categorically that Hinkley Point C will go ahead," De Rivaz said. "That's good news for the U.K... It has been a long road. The project has passed a huge number of regulatory, political, commercial and operational milestones and it will go ahead because we have the expertise, the supply chain, the team, including our long-standing partners CGN [China General Nuclear] to build Hinkley Point C on time and on budget."

He added: "We are confident in the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) technology and the volition to achieve the highest standards of safety of the well-established and reliable PWR [pressurised water reactor] technology. The EPR is a modern design which has already been proven by the U.K.'s [nuclear] regulator. It will go ahead because we have the strong support of the U.K. government and of the French government. It will go ahead because we are confident regarding the financing of this project. In a nutshell we are confident and proud to be able to deliver this project because it meets the UK's need for reliable, affordable low-carbon electricity."

Last week, the French government confirmed that it would offer financial support to EDF, of which it controls and 85% stake, to ensure that 3,300-megawatt (MW) Hinkley project would proceed. For additional information, see March 23, 2016, article - French Government to Back U.K. Nuclear Project.

The EPR reactor technology, designed by AREVA S.A. (EPA:CEI) (Paris, France), has run into numerous problems at its first projects. Crippling delays at nuclear projects at Olkiluoto in Finland and Flamanville in France have cost the company billions of euros in overruns and delayed the projects by 5-10 years.

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