Evening Standard

May ‘is delaying Hinkley Point deal amid fears over China stake’

- Nicholas Cecil

AN £18 billion deal to build a new nuclear power plant in Britain was delayed because of government concerns over Chinese involvemen­t in the project, Labour suggested today.

Senior officials from China General Nuclear, which has a stake of a third in the Hinkley Point scheme, and top executives from French energy giant EDF had been due to attend a ceremony in Somerset today marking its go-ahead. But the Government stunned the energy sector last night by announcing a further review into the controvers­ial project.

Shadow energy secretary Barry Gardiner told the BBC: “The Chinese have come in for a third of the cost — that is another thing the Government must review in the project.

“I believe Theresa May has probably pulled it back because of that very involvemen­t.”

This belief was fuelled among politician­s by previous comments by Nick Timothy before he became Mrs May’s joint chief-of-staff at No10.

He suggested last October that it was “baffling” that the British Government had been welcoming Chinese stateowned companies into sensitive sectors in the UK given concerns over alleged Chinese espionage.

Mr Gardiner also called for a root-andbranch review, arguing the base price of £92.5 per megawatt hour that the Government had been set to guarantee was too high and should be renegotiat­ed.

Other energy experts, though, also doubted whether EDF had the industrial and financial capacity to ensure the project was delivered on time and on budget.

These worries will only have been heightened by the split in the energy company’s board, which voted by just 10 to seven, according to sources, to give the green light to the Hinkley C scheme. One member resigned before the decision.

EDF Group chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy said he remained confident it would go ahead. “I have no doubt about the support of the British government led by Mrs May,” he said.

China General Nuclear said in a statement: “We respect the new Government’s need to familiaris­e itself with a project as important to the UK’s future energy security as Hinkley Point C and we stand ready to help the Government in this respect.”

Downing Street were insisting that the project had not been delayed and there was an “agreed timetable” with the French government.

Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark said in a brief statement last night: “The Government will now consider carefully all the component parts of this project and make its decision in the early autumn.”

But with about 25,000 jobs expected to be created by the huge developmen­t, GMB union national sec ret ar y for energy Justin Bowden said: “Theresa May’s decision to review the go-ahead on HPC is bewilderin­g and bonkers.”

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