EDF no comment on report it might sell UK nuclear plants

PARIS, July 9 (Reuters) - French state-controlled utility EDF (Paris: FR0010242511 - news) declined to comment on whether it would be willing to sell part of its 80 percent stake in Britain's nuclear plants, following a UK newspaper report about Chinese interest in buying a large minority stake.

British daily The Times reported on Sunday that China General Nuclear (CGN) was in early-stage talks with EDF Energy and its partner Centrica (Frankfurt: A0DK6K - news) about acquiring a share of up to 49 percent in Britain's fleet of eight power stations.

Centrica said in June it planned to sell its 20 percent stake in the UK nuclear power plants by the end of 2020, but an EDF spokesman on Monday declined to say whether the French utility would be willing to reduce its stake.

EDF's UK unit EDF Energy owns and operates 15 nuclear reactors in eight nuclear power stations with a total capacity of 8.9 gigawatt, which generate about 20 percent of Britain's electricity.

Since 2009, Centrica has held a 20 percent stake in Lake Acquisitions Ltd, which holds EDF's operating UK nuclear generation assets but not its nuclear newbuild projects. (Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Brian Love)