EU policy-makers oppose UK taxpayer-funded nuclear plant
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A LANDMARK deal to use British taxpayers’ money to build a 16-billion-pound (US$25.6 billion) nuclear power station has triggered opposition from a quarter of EU policy-makers, who want to overturn approval from the top European regulator, EU sources said.
The European Commission, the EU executive, said last month it would approve the British scheme involving French utility EDF.
A copy of the draft decision shows the Commission has accepted the plan with some changes that would ensure the British government and British taxpayer get a bigger share of any windfall profits and EDF a smaller take.
The project at Hinkley Point, southwest England, is central to Britain’s goal to replace a fifth of its ageing nuclear power and coal plants over the coming decade, while France sees it as a major export contract that will boost its nuclear industry.
But critics say it breaches EU law over when government funding is allowed, and representatives of the renewable industry have threatened to bring legal action against the Commission if the Hinkley Point plan is approved.
An internal meeting of senior Commission staff tomorrow will examine the decision, and the college of 28 Commissioners including President Jose Manuel Barroso is expected to hold a closed-door vote on Wednesday.
Five separate sources said seven Commissioners opposed approval of the Hinkley Point funding, and although that would not be enough to block it, it was an unusually high level of opposition. One source said the number could rise.
“They should make more effort to accommodate objections,” one source said, referring to the department of Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia.
A copy of the commission decision seen by Reuters said any competition distortions were being “kept to the minimum necessary and are offset by the positive effects of the measures.”
It shows that Britain would be allowed to offer EDF a guaranteed price of 92.50 pound per megawatt-hour for 35 years — twice the current market rate.
The case is a benchmark for EU members, as countries such as Germany phase out nuclear and seek to replace it with renewable power, while nations such as Poland, like Britain, favor nuclear.
Britain says the funding is essential because the EU carbon market has collapsed to levels far too weak to engineer a shift away from carbon-intensive fuel to carbon-free generation.
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