EDF: A total basket case, weighed down by its £50Billion nuclear turkey at Hinkley Point

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In 2007, the then EDF chief executive said that by Christmas in 2017, turkeys would be cooked using electricity generated from atomic power from Hinkley. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

https://www.jonathonporritt.com/edf-a-total-basket-case-weighed-down-by-its-50-billion-nuclear-turkey-at-hinkley-point/

EdF’s bosses must be thanking their lucky stars that President Macron decided to take complete control of EdF back in 2022. Otherwise, its latest announcements about further delays and cost increases for its new reactors at Hinkley Point would have sent any remaining investors running for the hills.

The scale of those announcements is staggering:

  • The price tag for Hinkley Point C has now been reset at £31-34 billion (in 2015 prices), twice the original £18 billion.
  • In today’s money, that’s around £46 billion – with further delays and cost hikes (rising to at least £50 billion) all but inevitable.
  • EdF’s shortfall in completing Hinkley Point has risen substantially, and could now be as high as £25 billion on its balance sheet.
  • EdF has admitted that 2029 is now the earliest Hinkley Point will come online. Fat chance of that!

Which makes Hinkley Point C even more of a bust than EdF’s current worst reactor construction nightmare at Flamanville in France. And significantly worse than its plant at Olkiluoto in Finland, which it just managed to get over the line last year.

https://www.jonathonporritt.com/edf-a-total-basket-case-weighed-down-by-its-50-billion-nuclear-turkey-at-hinkley-point/

Continue ReadingEDF: A total basket case, weighed down by its £50Billion nuclear turkey at Hinkley Point

Hinkley Point C could be delayed to 2031 and cost up to £35bn, says EDF

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/23/hinkley-point-c-could-be-delayed-to-2031-and-cost-up-to-35bn-says-edf

As nuclear plant is hit by further delay, real cost will be far higher after inflation is included, as project uses 2015 prices

In 2007, the then EDF chief executive said that by Christmas in 2017, turkeys would be cooked using electricity generated from atomic power from Hinkley. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

The owner of Hinkley Point C has blamed inflation, Covid and Brexit as it announced the nuclear power plant project could be delayed by a further four years, and cost £2.3bn more.

The plant in Somerset, which has been under construction since 2016, is now expected to be finished by 2031 and cost up to £35bn, France’s EDF said. However, the cost will be far higher once inflation is taken into account, because EDF is using 2015 prices.

The latest in a series of setbacks represents a huge delay to the project’s initial timescale. In 2007, the then EDF chief executive Vincent de Rivaz said that by Christmas in 2017, turkeys would be cooked using electricity generated from atomic power at Hinkley. When the project was finally given the green light in 2016, its cost was estimated at £18bn.

However, the Hinkley Point C delay will add to concerns over project delays and costs, as well as skills in an industry earmarked to deliver a quarter of the national electricity demand by 2050.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/23/hinkley-point-c-could-be-delayed-to-2031-and-cost-up-to-35bn-says-edf

comment by dizzy: This is not at all surprising. EDF were extremely late and over-budget with 2 nuclear power station of the same design as Hinkley C when it started.

Continue ReadingHinkley Point C could be delayed to 2031 and cost up to £35bn, says EDF

Wales can object to Hinkley Point C because they were not adequately consulted. All and everyone who can should object to HP3.

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I encourage any and everyone and anyone with a legitimate objection to Hinley Point C to pursue that objection.

Continue ReadingWales can object to Hinkley Point C because they were not adequately consulted. All and everyone who can should object to HP3.