George Osborne has signed a £2 billion government subsidy for the delayed Hinkley Point power plant project.
The Chancellor said the government would pave the way for the construction of Britain’s first new nuclear power station for a generation, The Guardian reports.
He made the announcement during a visit to China, where he and Amber Rudd, secretary of state for energy and climate change, discussed Beijing’s proposal to fund the new Hinkley Point C site in Somerset.
Hinkley Point is expected to produce around seven per cent of the country’s energy needs, powering around 6 million homes, according to the Treasury.
It is also hoped the construction and operation of the plant will create thousands of jobs in Somerset.
Power and the glory? An artist’s impression of Hinkley Point C, which it is envisaged will start generating in 2026 and account for 7 per cent of British consumption
“Britain was the home to the first civil nuclear power stations in the world and I am determined that we now lead the way again,” Mr Osborne said.
“Nuclear power is cost-competitive with other low-carbon technology and is a crucial part of our energy mix, along with new sources of power such as shale gas.
“So I am delighted to announce this guarantee for Hinkley Point today and to be in China to discuss their investments in Britain’s nuclear industry.
“It is another move forward for the golden relationship between Britain and China - the world’s oldest civil nuclear power and the world’s fastest growing civil nuclear power.”
The project has been beset by problems and the plant’s developer, French energy group EDF, recently admitted it would miss its target start date of 2023, the BBC says.
Last week, The Guardian reported that three leading environmentalists urged the government to scrap plans for Hinkley Point C.
George Monbiot, Mark Lynas and Chris Goodall said the soaring cost and delays to the project leave ministers with no option but to put the £24.5 billion worth of investment, the combined total cost of Crossrail, the London 2012 Olympics and Heathrow’s revamped Terminal 2, into other low-carbon technologies.
Greenpeace UK’s chief scientist, Dr Doug Parr, said: “This announcement is a PR smokescreen to give the impression that this project is moving forward when it’s actually bogged down in a swamp of troubles.
“Hinkley hasn’t got funding or safety clearance, and everyone outside the nuclear industry and our blinkered government thinks it’s absurd, yet the Chancellor is ignoring them all to plough ahead with this overpriced, overrated, and overtime project.”
