COPENHAGEN: Plans to build new nuclear stations in Europe have been thrown into disarray after the shock resignation of Thomas Piquemal, the chief financial officer of EDF, the French energy company, believed to be over the final investment decision on a new plant in the UK.
EDF Energy in the UK has been planning to build a new nuclear station at Hinkley Point in Somerset, in the south west of England, for several years. Despite the British Government agreeing a ‘strike price’ with EDF Energy in the UK, which guarantees EDF a price of US$141 MWh for generating electricity over 35 years and a debt guarantee, the final investment decision has still not been taken.
The issue was discussed between UK Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande at their meeting in Amiens, north France last week. Although Chinese backers have signed up to fund two thirds of the Hinkley Point project, EDF is struggling to fund the remaining third, following the state bailout of Areva, which manufactures the nuclear reactor.
The project has suffered further delays because of problems at two other sites where nuclear stations based on a similar design to Hinkley are being built. The CEO of EDF, Jean-Bernard Lévy, in September announced a further postponement of the commissioning of the gigantic new nuclear power station at Flamanville in northern France and admitted the price has more than tripled.
