Then there is Hinkley Point. Did you know that it’s all going swimmingly? It’s rated dark green, meaning “Successful delivery of the project on time, budget and quality appears highly likely.” This is the nuclear power station that nobody wants and the subject of (another) damning report from the National Audit Office. Hinkley Point promises financial misery for the owner, the contractors and finally to every British business and household through higher costs for electricity. The owner, EDF of France, is in poor shape financially and struggling to make its home-built prototype comply with escalating safety regulations. It has just added two years and £1.5bn to the estimated Hinkley start-up date. Britain’s nuclear policy dates back to 2008, an age when the oil price was only going to rise. Nine years on, the world has changed. The combination of abundant oil and gas and rising regulatory costs have sounded the death knell for big nuclear fission plants. The NAO currently estimates the Hinkley Point subsidy at £60bn, locking Britain into high energy costs at a time of world abundance, with a devastating impact on competitiveness. The calculation, on the government’s estimates of fossil fuel prices, that a three-year delay will actually save consumers money is a demonstration of how barmy this whole fiasco has become.
FT 4th Aug 2017 read more »