<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/worlds-most-expensive-nuclear-power-plant-blows-out-again-by-e2-5-billion-and-12-months/>
"French energy giant EDF has revealed that completion of the troubled Hinkley
Point C nuclear power plant in England is likely to be delayed by a further 12
months, costing the company an additional €2.5 billion, or around $A4.2
billion.
The Hinkley Point C nuclear powerplant is set to be Britain’s first new nuclear
power plant in over 30 years but was meant to be operational by 2025 at a cost
of “only” £18 billion (in 2015 prices).
EDF, which also manages France’s fleet of 57 nuclear reactors, only took a
final investment decision (FID) in mid-2016 – despite the project having
origins as far back as 1981 – and construction officially got underway in 2017.
However, repeated delays and cost blowouts had pushed completion of the project
out to 2029 at a cost of £31 billion (2015 prices).
Once again highlighting the difficulty of building new nuclear power plants,
EDF was forced to announce at the end of last week that electromechanical work
on Hinkley Point C’s Unit 1 reactor would likely result in a 12-month delay,
pushing commissioning out to 2030.
As a result, EDF announced an impairment to its net income of €2.5 billion,
with a final completion cost for the project now estimated at around £35
billion (2015 prices), or £48 billion in current value, which converts to
around $A92 billion, and is nearly double the original costs expected for
Hinkley Point C.
EDF also said that, if a further 12-month delay materialises in a worst-case
scenario for construction of Hinkley Point C’s Unit 1, costs would increase by
a further £1 billion (2015 prices).
And while the 3.2 GW Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant is expected to
generate around 7 per cent of Britain’s electricity demand, the cost to British
taxpayers could be as much as £2 billion a year, as subsidies to EDF."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
