nuclear-news

UK nuclear price guarantee a tricky and controversial question

Lid to be kept on nuclear price guarantee – strike price ‘won’t reach three figures’ : http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2276494/Lid-kept-nuclear-price-guarantee–strike-price-wont-reach-figures.html#ixzz2Kc9vIVuf  By JON REES 10 February 2013 The wholesale price guaranteed by the Government for nuclear power generation is likely to be less than £100 a megawatt hour.

Nuclear investors will be compensated if the price falls below the agreed level, but if the price is higher the energy giants must pay the difference to consumers.

Sources close to the negotiations with the Government last week claimed that the guaranteed figure – known as the strike price – ‘will not reach three figures’, which is considerably less than the £140 per megawatt hour equivalent for offshore wind.

If the strike price is set at a level that is seen as being too high it will prove politically controversial as EDF – the only company with firm plans to build new nuclear plants before 2020 – is owned by the French.

A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: ‘No commitment has been made on commercial terms or a strike price.’

February 11, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK