Households will pay thousands for the horror of Hinkley
For all that has been written about Theresa May’s decision to give the go-ahead to the Franco-Chinese 3.2 gigawatte (GW) nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset, the fact remains that on every count, as I have long tried to explain, this scheme is utterly insane.
Not only, at an estimated capital cost of £18 billion, would this be by far the most expensive power station in the world, but it is so heavily subsidised that its French owners, EDF, would be allowed to sell us easily the world’s most expensive nuclear electricity. So flawed is the design of its reactors – its two similar projects in France and Finland are both running hopelessly late and over-budget – that Hinkley may still never be built. And we could have opted instead for the proven reactors the Koreans are building in the Middle East, on time and on budget, at a fraction of the cost.
But one expert calculation last week showed that, even if Hinkley is built, the index-linked subsidy bill we are all committed to pay over 35 years will be far higher than previous estimates, amounting to some £49 billion, or nearly £2,000 for every home in the land. Compare this with the 2GW of unsubsidised electricity we can get at less than half the price from the last gas-fired power station built in Britain for only £1 billion, or one 18th of the same capital cost. Even if Mrs May was terrified into thinking that, if she didn’t give it the go-ahead, the Chinese would never do business with us again, this is still the most foolish white elephant British politicians have ever fallen for. That was then: Jack Leach, left, and Peter Trego of Somerset during a lap of honour following their side’s victory over Nottinghamshire at Taunton