The future of the planned new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point remains in doubt as key French unions still oppose the project, BBC Newsnight has learned. EDF, which would build the plant, had delayed a decision on the project in Somerset until the summer while it consulted French union representatives. The company, which is 85% French state-owned, had hoped to win support from a committee of workplace representatives. But the committee said staff had not been reassured about the plant’s costs. Trade union representatives hold six of the 18 seats on EDF’s board. Jean-Luc Magnaval, secretary of the Central Works Committee that EDF consulted with, told Newsnight that staff feared the cost of the project would cripple EDF. He said: “We have reservations about several aspects of the project: organisation, supply chain, installation, and procurement. “The trade unions are unlikely to give their blessing to the project in its current state. A former energy adviser to the French government told Newsnight that while EDF did not technically need the backing of the trade union representatives, it would be very difficult, politically, to go ahead without it. Yves Marignac said: “Going for it would for the government be crossing a red line in their relationship with the trade unions, which would make it really difficult for the government, particularly with the perspective of the next general election when they will need to get some support of the trade unions. “Making a decision for the project is not possible right now. The political costs and the costs for EDF’s financial situation are too high right now.”
BBC 27th May 2016 read more »
The Hinkley Point project has been dealt a fresh blow after French unions said they would vote against the scheme to build the UK’s first nuclear power plant in three decades. The workers’ committee of French state-backed utility firm, EDF, which has been contracted to build two new reactors in Somerset, said it is “unlikely” to back the project “in its current state”. “We have reservations about several aspects of the project: organisation, supply chain, installation and procurement,” Jean-Luc Magnaval, secretary of the EDF Central Works Committee, told the BBC. “The trade unions are unlikely to give their blessing to the project in its current state. We are not reassured by the documents we have received. We have been given a marketing folder, not the full information we require.”
IB Times 27th May 2016 read more »
Press & Journal 27th May 2016 read more »
The French government is mulling a sale of its stake in Peugeot parent company PSA Group, to help fund a €3 billion (£2.28 billion) aid package for energy giant EDF – which is responsible for building the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant, according to a report in the Financial Times.
Utility Week 26th May 2016 read more »