Trade unions press EDF to delay Hinkley Point C decision
EDF’s proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset is supposed to be a crucial part of the UK’s future energy mix, providing 7 per cent of the country’s total electricity needs when up and running in 2025.
But even before the Brexit vote, the project has encountered years of uncertainty and multiple delays.
Critics say Hinkley Point is too expensive. Within EDF, dissenters are concerned the construction risk is too large for a company that has a stretched balance sheet and is battling with a drop in European power prices.
A majority of the EDF unions — which have considerable influence at the company by having six seats on the 18-member board — want to delay any binding commitment to Hinkley Point.
The unions are also concerned that the EPR reactor technology that will be used is still untested, with no working example in the world.
The EDF workers’ committee — an official body within the company made up largely of union members — is legally obliged to give its official opinion on whether Hinkley Point should go ahead on July 4.
Last week the committee filed a legal claim to try to delay that decision. It alleged that EDF has “refused” to give the body key documents about Hinkley Point C.
EDF has rejected the allegations. A court hearing about the workers’ committee claim is scheduled for September 22.
On Thursday, the CGT, CFE-CGC and the FO urged the EDF board not to make the final investment decision at least until after this legal hearing.
Emmanuel Macron, the French economy minister, on Tuesday insisted that the UK vote to leave the EU would have “no consequences” for the Hinkley Point project, urging EDF to press ahead with its final investment decision.
But in a BBC interview on Wednesday, Michel Sapin, the French finance minister, said the project had become “more difficult” following the Brexit vote.