The power station is set to join Hinkley Point B (above) in the Bristol channel. Geograph.org/Rick Crowley. Some rights reservedThe UK applied for £17.6bn in EU subsidies for the construction of the brand new nuclear power station, Hinkley Point C in Somerset. The request of help received the green light last year, much to the surprise of other EU members. Some others also frowned, particularly within the renewables industry.
In fact Germany had been denied state aid help to support its epochal Energiewende (energy transition), which consists in eventually closing down all nuclear reactors for good in an effort to replace them with sources of renewable energy. ‘This is double-standards’, is what many ought to have thought.
Austria’s going full tilt
Austria has decided to appeal against the state aid granted to the British government: building a nuclear power station should involve no EU help whatsoever. The ministry of agriculture, forestry, environment and water – also known as the Ministry for an Austria that’s worth living in – has published a statement, where it spells out its stance on the matter very clearly. The Alpine government is undoubtedly having a right go at the UK and its apparently dubious financial demands from Europe.
