NGW Magazine: UK looks into nuclear question
After a few months in his job, the new UK finance minister will have to have answers soon on the wisdom of infrastructure projects that could hit the population’s wallets, such as the planned Hinkley Point C nuclear plant. The role of gas in the UK power sector could grow.
The UK finance minister Philip Hammond will face the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee for a light interrogation on government plans for spending public money September 8. Quizzing him at this annual event will be Lord Hollick, who a few years ago chaired the House of Lords select committee that asked why there was still no national shale gas exploration and production industry.
Hammond is likely to be asked, among other things, what are his views on the proposed new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point (HPC) and whether the deal represents good value for money.
By then, he should have been advised on the terms and conditions on which French state-backed EDF and China General Nuclear are to build and operate the plant. The investors had expected that the positive French final investment decision in July would be enough to greenlight the deal.
In the UK, the mood has turned against the project since the prime minister, Theresa May, dropped the bombshell about the preliminary requirement for a UK government decision in September: passed off at the time as just part of the due diligence, the announcement now looks like a device for managing the investors’ expectations.