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Sizewell C Could Begin Operation In 2031, But Will Need Lower Strike Price, Says EDF’s De Rivaz

By David Dalton
6 November 2017

Sizewell C Could Begin Operation In 2031, But Will Need Lower Strike Price, Says EDF’s De Rivaz

6 Nov (NucNet): The planned Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk, England, will start generating electricity in 2031 but a lower strike price than that for Hinkley Point will need to be agreed, outgoing EDF Energy chief executive Vincent de Rivaz was quoted as saying in British media reports. EDF has set no firm timeline for the construction of two EPR units at Sizewell C, but according to press reports there has been talk of improvements to a nearby main road being completed in time for a 10-year construction phase to begin in 2021. However, in comments quoted in The Times, Mr de Rivaz acknowledged that EDF, the UK subsidiary of France’s state-controlled nuclear operator EDF, will have to agree a significantly lower strike price for the energy produced by Sizewell C compared with the deal already secured for Hinkley Point C. Last year, the government agreed a guaranteed price of £92.50 (€104, $121) per megawatt hour for Hinkley Point, which will fall to £89.50 if EDF Energy also goes ahead with Sizewell C. Critics of the Hinkley project said the strike price was too high. EDF Energy has carried out two stages of public consultation in Suffolk for the Sizewell project. A spokesman said EDF Energy would look at the feedback it had received and would revise plans for further public consultation before submitting a planning application. An EDF executive told a conference in Brussels recently that the company is aiming to reduce the cost of its future EPR projects by 30%, based on lessons learned from the delayed construction of the Flamanville-3 project in France and the Olkiluoto-3 project in Finland.

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