EDF ‘won’t build any new nuclear sites in UK’

THE nationalisation of French energy giant EDF means it is unlikely to spearhead future nuclear power projects in the UK, according to a top industry insider. The Hinkley Point C developer will instead focus investment on reactors in France, the source said.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced last week that the state would buy the 16 per cent of shares in EDF it does not already own. EDF, one of Britain’s big household energy suppliers, will continue work on Hinkley in Somerset, as well as Sizewell C in Suffolk, which is still being approved by the UK Government.

But the source said EDF would now shift its focus to France as it battles the energy crisis sweeping Europe, adding: ‘The odds of it putting money into another UK plant are incredibly small.

‘This has been a long time coming because being fully nationalised means it can put more money into French projects without having to worry about state aid.’

Many in the industry have welcomed the move. Moody’s, the credit rating service, said it would give the French government ‘the financial means to develop new power capacities in France, including nuclear power generation’.

France gets 70 per cent of its electricity from nuclear, while British plants generate just 16 per cent of UK supply. President Emmanuel Macron is pushing for the building of up to six reactors in France.

An EDF spokesman said: ‘The teams of EDF in the UK are fully committed to continuing to run and build our power stations and renewables, and to serve our customers.’