The European Commission (EC) has found revised UK plans to subsidise the construction and operation of a new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in the United Kingdom to be in line with EU state aid rules that aim to preserve competition in the Single European Market. The EC gave its formal approval to the 35 years the contract for difference (CfD) financial support, with some slight revisions of the contract conditions. The EC decision, first approval of a significant state aid for a new nuclear power project in Europe, could serve as a precedent for other countries, such as Poland and the Czech Republic, that are seeking to develop their nuclear industry.
The new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station will require debt financing of £17bn (€21.6bn), while the construction costs are estimated at £24.5bn (€31.2bn). Start of operations is scheduled for 2023 with an expected operational lifetime of 60 years. The two reactors will produce in total 3.3 GW of electricity, the largest output produced by a single plant in the UK and representing 7% of UK electricity generation. The UK will need about 60 GW of new electricity generation capacity to come online between 2021 and 2030 due to the closure of existing nuclear and coal power plants. The Hinkley Point nuclear power project developed by EDF will use the EPR technology which is not yet operational anywhere in the world. There are only three projects currently under construction in France, Finland and China which will rely on this technology.
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