London restarts with the atom. And she does it with a maxi order worth almost 20 billion euros, entrusted to a consortium in which the French are the masters, but where there is also room for China.
EDF confirmed this morning with a press release the main points of the agreement signed last week with London for the construction of two EPR nuclear reactors at the Hinkley Point C site, in Somerset, south-west Great Britain. Prime Minister David Cameron revealed the amount of the investment: “It is a contract of 19 billion euros in future investments for the United Kingdom. 25 new jobs will be created.”
The budget covers reactor construction and commissioning (land purchase, permits, spent fuel storage sites).
The electricity purchase price that will be guaranteed to the consortium partners has been set at 109 euros per megawatt hour. The price deal will last for 35 years, starting with the reactors being commissioned in 2023.
The contract, to be definitive, will have to obtain the ok from the European Commission, which will assess whether the rules on state aid have been broken.
Profitability, or rather the right rate of return, calculated by the group is 10%. “A fair deal”, Edf commented, while the controversy over the rise in energy prices is raging in Great Britain.
As far as investors are concerned, Edf confirms its share of the capital at 45-50%. The remainder goes to the two Chinese partners CNNC and CGN (from 30 to 40%) - the People's Republic has recently obtained the go-ahead to enter the British atom business - and to the French Areva (10%), which could not to place a reactor since 2007, due to the effects of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the economic crisis.
