No energy delays

A decision is ‘desperately’ needed on the financing of the building of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, if the lights are to remain on in the years ahead.

The French energy giant – EDF – said the power station in Somerset will not now start generating power in 2023, as originally planned.

 

Skates on

Unite’s national officer for energy, Kevin Coyne, is calling on energy secretary Amber Rudd ‘to get her skates on’ over this issue.

EDF has been struggling to generate finance for the ÂŁ24.5bn plant, but is hoping to secure Chinese funds when the president Xi Jinping visits London next month.

 

Coyne said: “This delay is very bad news for the UK as energy capacity is very stretched at present, as we have lost energy resources in recent years as old coal-fired stations are phased out.

 

 Lights out

 

“Business and domestic consumers face the very real prospect of power cuts and the lights going out in the years to come, if the final investment decision (FID) on Hinkley Point – the first new UK nuclear power plant in decades – is not made very soon.

 

“We have welcomed the important role that EDF Energy has played in its investment at Hinkley Point, so far, as part of the renaissance of nuclear power to meet the nation’s target for low carbon energy and nuclear build.

 

“However”, he added, “a decision is desperately needed from the government.

 

“Amber Rudd needs to get her skates on and use her ministerial position to press potential investors for a quick decision on the necessary future investment, so that EDF can make a FID before Christmas.

 

Serious implications

 

“The employment implications are serious too, as the building Hinkley Point will provide many skilled jobs for a considerable length of time.”

 

The EDF statement comes in the week that saw the announcement of the planned closure of the Eggborough coal-fired power station in West Yorkshire which will bring the job losses in the region’s coal-based energy sector to about 1,000 in recent months.

The nearby coal-fired Ferrybridge C power station is also due to close in March next year.

Unite said that by closing Eggborough and Ferrybridge C, there will be a reduction in their contribution to the grid by about eight per cent, enough to power about four million homes.