New safeguards sought by BEIS on the controversial £18bn nuclear project formally agreed by all parties at ceremony in London
In the end, there was no marquee and no champagne. The final contract documents that will see the UK's first new nuclear power station in a generation built at Hinkley Point in Somerset were formally signed by CGN, EDF and Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark this afternoon during a private ceremony in London, the government has announced.
It follows the government's controversial decision earlier this month to proceed with the £18bn Hinkley Point C project, subject to the agreement of several additional safeguards regarding future foreign investments in the facility and restrictions on EDF's ability to sell its stake in the plant in future. The decision followed a review, which saw the government pull the plug on plans to sign the contract at a high profile ceremony at bthe Hinkley Point site earlier this summer.
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According to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the new safeguards have now been agreed by all parties involved in the project and the Contract for Difference and Secretary of State Investor Agreement for Hinkley Point have been formally signed.
Clark attended today's ceremony alongside EDF chairman and CEO Jean-Bernard Levy and the chairman of China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN), He Yu, all of whom inked the final documentation allowing the nuclear project to go ahead.
"Signing the Contract for Difference for Hinkley Point C is a crucial moment in the UK's first new nuclear power station for a generation and follows new measures put in place by government to strengthen security and ownership," said Clark.
"Britain needs to upgrade its supplies of energy, and we have always been clear that nuclear power stations like Hinkley play an important part in ensuring our future low-carbon energy security."
The event was also attended by Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development and Minister Nur Bekri, the Administrator of the National Energy Administration of China.
In addition, China's CGN - which has a 33.5 per cent stake in Hinkley Point C - confirmed the agreements signed today will enable it to begin preparatory work on the separate Bradwell B nuclear plant in Essex, in which it has a 66.5 per cent stake.
"The signing of these agreements signifies CGN's commitment to the UK as one of the world's leading developers and operators of nuclear power," Hu Ye said in a statement. "This flagship programme is a triple win for China, Britain, and France and is a culmination of years of cooperation between the three countries. CGN looks forward to providing UK consumers with safe, reliable and sustainable energy and maximising opportunities for UK suppliers and the UK workforce."
Under current plans, Hinkley Point C is expected to begin generating electricity from 2025, providing seven per cent of the UK's energy needs and helping to deliver significant emissions reductions.
However, the project remains highly controversial with critics from across the political spectrum arguing that it is too costly and faces a host of challenges that are likely to lead to delays to the project.
"The government has just signed a deal for the most outrageously overpriced white elephant project imaginable," said Green Party MP and co-leader Caroline Lucas. "Not only are bill payers going to be ripped off but this absurd project will also divert resources away from building the energy infrastructure we need, and threaten our climate change targets because of the snail's pace at which it will be built. This is not the end of the fight against Hinkley - and we will be joining campaigners in continuing to highlight the major shortcomings of this project."
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