A planned nuclear plant to the east of London will not require state investment, the Chinese company building it said after the British government was criticized for helping another project. “It is not our plan to seek direct investment from the UK government for Bradwell B,” Robert Davies, chief operating officer of CGN UK, a UK subsidiary of China’s General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN), told Reuters. After saying it did not want to directly invest in new nuclear plants, Britain’s government made a U-turn this week, saying it could take a stake in Hitachi’s (6501.T) near $20 billion Wlyfa project in Wales, CGN’s Davies said it was too early to discuss funding in detail but, but the fact that the Chinese-owned firm said it will not need such direct investment shows it is confident of funding the project itself, or being able to raise the cash. Hinkley was also awarded a subsidy minimum price guarantee from the British government of almost double current electricity prices, which the National Audit office said could cost consumers 30 billion pounds ($40 billion). Davies said CGN’s Bradwell project would expect a much lower minimum guarantee price. “We know we have to get within a realistic range of (the cost of) offshore wind,” he said. Some offshore wind projects were awarded a minimum price as low as 57.50 per megawatt hour (MWh) in the latest round of subsidies, compared with the 92.50 pounds per MWh guaranteed for Hinkley. The HPR 1000 nuclear reactor CGN plans to use at Bradwell is capable of generating 1000 megawatts (MW) but no decision has been made yet about how many reactors would be deployed.
Reuters 8th June 2018 read more »
