Call for energy blueprint

Chinese investment in the Hinkley Point nuclear power station has “laid the financial building blocks” for the project to go-ahead according to Unite.

But the country’s largest union has also warned that the government’s £2bn underwriting of the Chinese investment does not mean that the UK’s national energy problems have been solved.

Coherent strategy

Unite national officer for energy Kevin Coyne said: “While today’s news is very welcome, the UK is by no means out of the woods yet when it comes to having a coherent energy strategy to keep the lights on in the decades ahead.”

Earlier this month EDF, the French energy giant, which is building the £24.5bn  Hinkley power station in Somerset, said that it will not start generating power in 2023, as originally planned.

The company welcomed the news of the government’s guarantee but did not say whether it put the project back on track.

EDF had been looking for investment partners, particularly in China after admitting it could not meet the cost of the plant alone.

The power station would be Britain’s first new nuclear plant for two decades and is expected to provide power for around 60 years.

Move quickly

Coyne added: “The financial building blocks now appear to be in place, and the onus is now on EDF to move quickly on announcing the final investment decision (FID) before Christmas.

“The news is good in terms of employment in the south west, as building Hinkley Point will provide many skilled jobs for a considerable length of time.

“However, there is no room for complacency and the UK is not out of the woods yet in terms of a strategic energy blueprint.

Power cuts

“Unite has repeatedly warned that business and domestic consumers face the very real prospect of power cuts and the lights going out in the years to come, if such a strategy is not forthcoming very soon”, he said.

Unite said that the recently announced closures of the coal-fired Eggborough and Ferrybridge C power stations will see a reduction in their contribution to the grid by about eight per cent, enough to power about four million homes.