China and Britain sign deal for giant Hinkley nuclear plant, defying wave of controversy

Britain finally gave the go-ahead earlier this month for the £18 billion complex but set conditions for the deal

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From left; EDF Group CEO Jean-Bernard Levy, France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, Britain's Business Minister Greg Clark, China's Energy Minister Neur Bekri, and China General Nuclear Corporation (CGN) Chairman, He Yu. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:23am, 30 Sep 2016Updated: 7:22pm, 3 Jul 2018

The contract for a French-Chinese consortium to build Britain’s first nuclear plant in a generation was signed on Thursday at a low-key ceremony, after a string of controversies threatened to scupper the huge deal.

The British government had delayed agreement over concerns about China’s involvement, while there were also questions about how the French state-owned power giant EDF would fund the construction of Hinkley Point.

The contracts marked “a significant step forward for a new era of nuclear power in the UK”, Britain’s business minister Greg Clark said in a statement after the signing, which was also attended by French and Chinese officials.

Britain finally gave the go-ahead earlier this month for the £18 billion (HK$ 180 billion) complex, which is expected to provide 7 per cent of the country’s power needs, but it set conditions for the deal.

The government has said EDF cannot cede majority control of the project and wants more scrutiny over national security concerns for future projects.