UK govt will have to fix a consumer price, to get a deal to construct nuclear reactors

a deal is
unlikely to be clinched before the French utility and the U.K.
government agree on a guaranteed price that consumers will pay for
power generated from Hinkley Point

Centrica is likely to withdraw from the construction of new reactors
because it fears that there will be cost overruns and that indirect
subsidies being negotiated with the British government will be
insufficient to justify the investment

EDF and French nuclear-reactor vendor Areva SA AREVA.FR 0.00%
are struggling with rising costs and delays in the construction of
next-generation European pressurized reactors. Costs at Areva’s
project in Finland have more than doubled to €8 billion ($10.5
billion), and the plant is five years behind schedule.

EDF and Chinese Firm Enter Talks to Build U.K. Nuclear Plants, WSJ, 10
Jan 13, By SELINA WILLIAMS in London and GÉRALDINE AMIEL in Paris
Electricité de France SA EDF.FR -1.84% is in talks with state-owned
China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. on forming a partnership to
build nuclear-power plants in the U.K., people familiar with the
matter said.

The deal could replace EDF’s partnership with British utility Centrica
CNA.LN -0.39% PLC for new plants in Britain and dispel some doubts
about whether the French company has sufficient funds for its nuclear
ambitions in the U.K., the people said…..
A new U.K. partnership with China Guangdong would provide EDF with
much-needed financing as it struggles with difficult market conditions
in France and prepares to unveil a cost-cutting plan that it has said
could threaten the company’s British investments.

A deal would give the Chinese utility, which already collaborates with
EDF on new reactors in China, a foothold in a new market…. EDF is
Britain’s biggest supplier of power by volume and has been expected to
lead the country’s nuclear renaissance….. But the plans have been
set back before construction has even started. EDF’s 1.65-gigawatt
Hinkley Point project had been expected to start operating in 2018.
But regulatory delays after the Fukushima disaster in Japan mean the
plant, in southwest England, now is unlikely to begin operation before
2020…..
China Guangdong is EDF’s preferred partner, although a deal is
unlikely to be clinched before the French utility and the U.K.
government agree on a guaranteed price that consumers will pay for
power generated from Hinkley Point, another person said….

Centrica is likely to withdraw from the construction of new reactors
because it fears that there will be cost overruns and that indirect
subsidies being negotiated with the British government will be
insufficient to justify the investment, another person said.
The potential injection of Chinese funds and expertise into Britain
comes as EDF and French nuclear-reactor vendor Areva SA AREVA.FR 0.00%
are struggling with rising costs and delays in the construction of
next-generation European pressurized reactors. Costs at Areva’s
project in Finland have more than doubled to €8 billion ($10.5
billion), and the plant is five years behind schedule. EDF’s costs
have doubled to €8 billion at its Flamanville, France, project, which
has been delayed by two years…..
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324081704578233441564200794.html