Hinkley Point C: Electricity from new British nuclear power plant costs over 15 cents per kilowatt hour

Electricity from new British nuclear power plant Hinkley Point C costs over 15 cents per kilowatt hour
© EDFMünster (renewablepress) - The construction of the new British nuclear power plant Hinkley Point C has been delayed and will be significantly more expensive than planned for the French nuclear power company EDF. But not only are the construction costs for the two new nuclear power plant units with a combined capacity of around 3,280 MW rising sharply, British electricity customers are now also facing considerable cost increases for the nuclear power generated on their electricity bills, according to Internationales Wirtschaftsforum Regenerative Energien (IWR) in Münster.

"The costs for the electricity generated from the new British nuclear power plant Hinkley Point C will be well over 15 ct/kWh at the planned start and thus far above the market electricity price," said IWR head Dr Norbert Allnoch in Münster. This is based on data from the British CFD register.

The British government agreed an initial guaranteed minimum strike price of £ 89.50 /MWh (10.3 ct/kWh) with the French manufacturer and builder of the nuclear power plants, EDF, for nuclear power from the new Hinley Point C nuclear power plant on the basis of the Contract for Difference (CfD) model. The initial minimum tariff of £89.50 /MWh (10.3 ct/kWh) is a starting price that increases with the British inflation rate. If the current market electricity price on the exchange is below the dynamically rising minimum tariff for nuclear power, British electricity customers will have to bear the difference in costs.

The latest data from the CFD register as of September 1, 2023 shows that the current minimum remuneration price (current strike price) has already risen to £128.09 /MWh (14.8 ct/kWh). This is a cost jump of over 43 percent, but there is currently no end in sight to the dynamic cost spiral for British nuclear power.

According to the CFD register, the first nuclear power plant unit (C 1) is scheduled to start up on June 1, 2027, followed by unit C2 on June 1, 2028. Assuming a British annual inflation rate of 3 percent and no further construction delays, the price of nuclear power generated from Hinkley Point C would already rise to 16.7 ct/kWh by the start date in 2027.

Conversion rate: 1 euro = 0.8668 pounds sterling on 21.12.2023


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Caption: Electricity from new British nuclear power plant Hinkley Point C costs over 15 cents per kilowatt hour
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Caption: Extract from the CFD Register - Hinkley Point C
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Münster, 21 December 2023


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Dr. Norbert Allnoch
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E-Mail: info@iwr-institut.de


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