Comment on Hinkley Point approval

Many challenges remain for Hinkley, and other parts of the low-carbon energy mix must also be addressed.

By Pippa Henderson

info@eciu.net

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Commenting on the news that the Government has decided to proceed with a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset, Richard Black, director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said that other hurdles remained for the project.

The Government has approved the nuclear plant at Hinkley Point C. Image: Crowcombe Al, creative commons licence
The Government has approved the nuclear plant at Hinkley Point C. Image: Crowcombe Al, creative commons licence

“Despite this being called a ‘final decision’ to build Hinkley C, other hurdles, including technical and legal challenges, may well lie ahead for the project,” he said.

“French trade unions don’t like it, nor do some of the likely candidates for the French Presidential Election next year, EDF’s finances are not the healthiest, and the French nuclear regulator is examining flaws in steel used for a similar reactor being built in France. So it may turn out not to be quite as ‘final’ as it looks now.

“Although China is reportedly happy with the new position, questions also remain over its main ambition – building its own nuclear reactors at Bradwell in Essex as a route into the Western market. The Chinese reactor hasn’t even begun the process of gaining UK safety approval, which usually takes four years, so negotiating a contract for Bradwell would fall to the next UK Government, not this one. By then, electricity from other sources might look a whole lot cheaper than it does now.”

ECIU energy analyst Dr Jonathan Marshall said that other parts of the UK’s energy mix needed similar certainty from the Government.

“If Hinkley does get built it will undoubtedly make a significant contribution to delivering the UK’s low-carbon power, but at a hefty premium to bill-payers in this generation and the next,” he said.

“Now the decision is done, one assumes that the Government will turn its attention to delivering similar certainty to other parts of the low-carbon energy system, notably offshore wind, tidal power, energy efficiency and demand-side response.

“Another thing for it to consider is whether the Hinkley model of bespoke, one-off deals with preferred bidders is really the way it wishes to do business; a more free-market approach, with genuine competition between low-carbon providers which also rewards innovation rather than incumbency, is surely the way to go.”

A recent ECIU report found that the UK can meet its energy and climate change targets without Hinkley Point C and that alternatives work out cheaper.