Hinkley nuclear plant deal officially signed in London

Government ministers and stakeholders from the UK, France and China have attended a ceremony to officially agree the £18bn Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.

A so-called contract for difference was signed in London by business secretary Greg Clark, Jean-Bernard Levy, chairman of French energy firm EDF (Paris: FR0010242511 - news) , and He Yu, chairman of Chinese firm CGN which has a third stake in the scheme.

It allows construction to begin in earnest - building on preliminary groundworks already completed at the Somerset site but halted when Theresa May demanded a review of the project on taking office as prime minister.

The Government's concerns included not only value for money but also Chinese involvement, which critics of the scheme had long-argued was a potential security risk.

The green light means Hinkley Point C will be the first new nuclear power station to be built in the UK in a generation.

It is due to start generating power by 2025 and forms a crucial part of the UK's energy mix, according to the Government - forming 7% of the country's total power output; enough to power six million homes.

There remains the chance of legal challenges.

Opponents say the set price of the electricity generated is too expensive, nuclear power too much of a risk and fear the decommissioning costs will be astronomical.

Molly Scott Cato, Green Party MEP for the South West region, said: "This is not the end of the saga. The financial support offered to Hinkley equates to a €7bn subsidy.

"Greens in the European Parliament believe that such a bailout amounts to illegal state aid under EU rules."

She (Munich: SOQ.MU - news) added: "We can still stop this disastrous project."

Unions welcomed the deal. More than 5,500 construction jobs will be created with 26,000 positions and apprenticeships available in total.

Mr Clark said: "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.

"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."

CGN said it had also signed agreements relating to new power stations at Sizewell in Suffolk and Bradwell (BRB) in Essex.

It said the deal would "enable preparatory work to begin on BRB, allowing CGN to put its HPR1000 technology through the UK's generic design assessment (GDA) process."