Hinkley Point C: model or exception?

摘要

The announcement on 21st October 2013 of the basic commercial agreement between EDF Energy and the UK government on the key terms of the proposed investment contract for the Hinkley Point C (HPC) nuclear power station was a notable boost for the international nuclear industry. Also of great significance was the announcement of the intent of two Chinese companies, CGN and CNNC, to invest in the project to build the two EPRs as minority shareholders. There is now a widespread assumption that the project will go ahead, but it is still subject to a so-called "final investment decision" to be made by all the partners by July 2014. This requires a formal agreement on the full investment contract, the finalisation of agreements between EDF and its partners (including AREVA as well as the Chinese) for equity funding and a green light from the European Commission on not violating rules on state aid. One assumes that the UK government has done the necessary groundwork to be very confident about the last of these, but the commercial case for the reactors remains very interesting and potentially not watertight.