With construction still in its preliminary phase, the costs of the two Epr nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point, in the United Kingdom, have already been revised upwards.
The Epr reactors of France's Edf continue to accumulate delays and see costs skyrocket. As has already happened at Olkiluoto, in Finland, and at Flamanville, on the shores of the English Channel, the British construction site at Hinkley Point recorded its first official cost increase at the beginning of July. Although work on British soil is still only at the preparatory phase, the French giant has already had to revise its figures: "The cost of the project – it announced in a press release – is now estimated at £19.6 billion (€22.3 billion, ed.), an increase of £1.5 billion (€1.8 billion) compared with previous estimates."
A few hours later, the president of Edf's British division, Vincent de Rivaz, confirmed the figures, speaking of an 8 per cent increase on the original budget. And it will largely be French citizens who foot the bill, given that Edf – 83.1 per cent of whose capital is state-owned – will have to cover 66.5 per cent of the total; the remainder will be paid by its partner China General Nuclear Power Corporation, which holds a 33.5 per cent stake in the project.
A situation that, according to reports by Le Point, is causing serious concern for Paris's economy minister Bruno Le Maire, "who immediately ordered Edf chief executive Jean-Bernard Lévy to prepare an action plan to ensure that construction costs remain under control." The government also asked to be informed of "the precise causes of this upward revision."
According to the French company, this revision is largely explained by the modifications made to the reactor designs at the request of the British nuclear safety authority. But the figures have also been pushed up by supplier contracts, signed only in recent times given that the final investment decision was voted on only in September 2016, a year behind the original schedule.
Meanwhile, projections for when the two reactors will enter service are also wavering: whereas an initial start-up towards the end of 2025 had been envisaged, delays of fifteen and nine months respectively are now anticipated. It is a story that keeps repeating itself: one need only consider that at Olkiluoto the Epr construction site accumulated nine years of delay. With financial losses that now exceed the sale price of the plant.
The French press makes no bones about the possibility that the Hinkley Point project could bring Edf to its knees — a company already heavily indebted (€37.4 billion) and hit by falling wholesale electricity prices as well as declining consumption. Edf is also expected to bear the cost of the expensive refurbishment programme for France's nuclear fleet, which comprises 58 reactors. It was for this reason that the workers' unions had called for the British construction site to be halted, fearing disastrous financial consequences. An appeal that, however, fell on deaf ears.
