The deal for a new power plant at Hinkley could be finalised this week
Tonight the Chinese President Xi Jinping will land in the UK for his first state visit, with David Cameron hailing this as a ‘golden era‘ in British-Chinese relations. Among the items on the agenda over the next four days will be Chinese investment into a nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset.
The £24.5bn power station project, the first new UK nuclear reactor in a generation, is expected to attract investment from China’s CGN and CNNC, which will take a minority stake in Hinkley Point C (to join Points A and B). French energy giant EDF will take the lead stake
To coincide with President Xi’s visit, Greenpeace have published the results of a poll they commissioned to research public opinion on the new power plant. The survey shows that less than a third of UK people back the new nuclear reactor.
Just 29 per cent of those surveyed (more than 2,000 adults) said they support plans for a new nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point, against 34 per cent who said they oppose it.
Furthermore, nearly three times more respondents said Osborne’s backing for the project worsened their opinion of him as a potential political leader than those who said it would improve it.
Greenpeace say the findings will come as an embarrassment for the government as EDF and their Chinese partners use this week’s visit to push forward the plans.
Hinkley has faced deep criticism since it was first announced in October 2013. It has been described as the ‘most expensive object ever built in Britain’, ‘one of the worst deals ever’ for British consumers, and a ‘bottomless pit and a big white elephant’.
In a damning report published this summer, experts at banking giant HSBC wrote that they saw ‘ample reason for the UK government to delay or cancel the project’, pointing to major technical setbacks and sky-high costs.
Under the deal, the UK government has committed to paying Hinkley’s owners twice the current market price of electricity for the next 35 years. The gap will being plugged by consumer-funded subsidies.
Around the time of the HSBC report, Energy secretary Amber Rudd defended government plans to withdraw subsidies from green, renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power, saying (£) ‘I feel we can deliver on low-carbon electricity through less subsidy.’
Many campaigners pointed out that this was at odds with the plans for Hinkley.
Commenting on today’s publication, Greenpeace UK’s chief scientist Dr Doug Parr said:
“No wonder the Hinkley project enjoys little public support. Consumers are hearing from ministers that keeping bills down is their top priority. Yet George Osborne is about to plough billions into the bottomless pit of ever more expensive nuclear power whilst pulling the plug on clean energy sources that are getting cheaper every year.
“He’s putting British clean tech firms out of business whilst lavishing billions on a foreign state-owned nuclear industry. None of this makes any economic, political, or business sense. There are no reasons left for going through with Hinkley but the chancellor’s own pride.”
Ruby Stockham is a staff writer at Left Foot Forward
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14 Responses to “Less than a third of UK public support Osborne’s nuclear power deal”
Michaelinlondon1234
I think you have added a zero to your figure. But if you were to add the surrounding economic effect then you are probably underestimating the numbers at risk.
Having looked at the energy sector…It is a complicated mix. I really have not done enough reading on it to comment.
Cameron and co seem more interested in slaughtering there way in to Iraq and Syria and destroying the place than Spending the time learning about UK industry and addressing its issues. A lot of UK industries depend on good quality steel in its various forms..
Paxus Calta
For a myriad of reasons, including British rate payers having to guarantee funding for the Hinkley C project even if it collapses, deceptive practices on the part of EdF, committing the UK to build an all Chinese reactor in the UK, crushing the UK renewables market and terrible pricing of electricity, this may well be the worst deal ever.
http://funologist.org/2015/10/20/worst-deal-ever/
steroflex
I am really sorry about the zero – you are quite right! The steel industry shrank to 30,000 and, with the current mess has gone down even further.
And,apart from Angela Eagle, nobody seems to care.
Harold
Today a Mega Watt of electricity on the open market trades at about £40, EDF have been guaranteed a price of £92/Mw. Who pays this? The consumer. Nuclear is expensive and unreliable at any one time over the last twenty years at least two of the UK reactors have been shut down, sometimes many more. Some of the UK plants have been shut for a year at a time. The old Magnox stations are costing billions to decommission and will take up to another 100 years to clear. Reports os staff sleeping on duty not following procedures inadequate staffing and covering up are rife at many of the stations. The massive subsidy given to EDF could be better spent on insulation, new boilers and economical products in the home, even contributing to solar for homes which wanted it. What ever route we take nuclear is not the answer.