Here is another reminder of how the energy giants hold the sway of power

Lest anyone should forget that all energy infrastructure projects suck at the teat of state subsidy, not just renewables, here is another reminder of how the energy giants hold the sway of power.

Read the full story at the Gloucestershire Echo.

EDF, French (state) owned, has downed tools at the new Hinkley Point nuclear power plant in Somerset until they can extract as much from the government as possible. The problem is, as parliament is now dissolved and we may face weeks of horsetrading before we have a functioning government, the conclusion isn’t imminent.

The truth is that any large scale, centralised energy generation project will never be built in the UK without a state backed guarantee to pay a fixed, high price for the power it generates for decades after it is first switched on. Nuclear, like solar PV emits no carbon once generating; the day when solar ceases to require subsidy is not far away. The same will never be said of nuclear energy which will continue to require huge state guarantees and dependence on foreign operators and capital.