Anti-nuclear protesters send a message to Chinese President Xi Jinping asking him to not to invest in Hinkley Point C. Image: PA Images.
Hinkley Point C makes no sense, least of all for electricity consumers. The foreign companies building the nuclear power station, EFF and the China General Nuclear Power Group (CNG), are footing £20.3 billion in construction costs in exchange for a 35-year deal with the British government for a guaranteed price for electricity. This inflation-linked £92.50 per MWh is more than double the current market rate. The government accepts that energy prices will not rise to make this deal worthwhile. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy estimate that EDF and CNG will be paid £30 billion above the wholesale price of electricity.
Why, then, is the project going ahead? Some analysts point towards the military – a civil nuclear power programme is needed to keep the nuclear submarine business afloat. It is not clear, however, why this leads to Hinkley Point C. Surely, a cheaper way to keep Britain’s nuclear submarine industry in business could be found, such as supporting small modular reactors. Perhaps Hinkley can be justified in terms of Britain’s need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Yet, such a noble desire does not neatly lead to new nuclear power stations. Renewables are already cheaper and increasingly so. Could the project be about jobs? Maybe in part, but not in any well-thought-through way. As the Committee of Public Accounts concluded, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy cannot say how, in precise terms, British companies and workers will benefit from Hinkley Point C.
