Hinkley Point C in doubt after British government delays approval (nuclear power)

[bananas]

1. EDF rushed the decision so that the UK will be liable if May cancels the contract

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-29/edf-pushes-for-u-k-nuclear-project-energy-experts-call-crazy

EDF Pushes for U.K. Nuclear Project Energy Experts Call ‘Crazy’
July 29, 2016 — 2:03 AM PDT

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Renewable energy, which last year delivered a quarter of the U.K.’s power demand, could be a cheaper option, according to a report by the National Audit Office last month. Danish utility Dong Energy A/S won a contract to deliver offshore wind power in the Netherlands at 72 euros a megawatt-hour ($80) for 15 years earlier this month, a deal that may be the cheapest in the world for the technology.

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After months of delays EDF may have now rushed the decision at short notice over fears the new Prime Minister Theresa May may be seeking to ditch the project as part of a new industrial strategy, said Liebreich.

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Now that EDF has made the final investment decision, “if the U.K. cancels it, then the U.K. becomes liable for canceling the contract,” said Liebreich.

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“EDF are so exposed now. There’s a 2.6 billion-pound hole in the Somerset ground that EDF have spent of their own money,” said James Heappey, a local MP and member of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee. “I don’t think they can walk away from that scale of investment.”