It looks like the UK's nuclear power project is really frightening! From the initial national strategic project, to the blow of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, to the strong opposition from the European Union and environmentalists, the project has been full of twists and turns.
Eventually, even China dodged out, leaving behind a huge black hole of money and endless troubles. What's going on here?
Since 2011, the UK's nuclear power plant plans have been in the public eye. Originally, this should have been quite smooth, after all, the nuclear power plant is related to national energy security, who knew that the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, directly frightened the British.
Everyone began to worry about nuclear safety, and opposition suddenly came up. In order to appease the public, the UK's Environment Agency had to delay the approval of the nuclear reactor for almost two years, and by the end of 2012, various environmental permits for the nuclear power plant were reluctantly granted.
Everyone thought that the construction could start smoothly now, but who knew that the EU suddenly jumped out and interfered. Why? It turned out to be a tariff agreement between the British government and EDF.
The price of electricity promised by the UK is as high as 92.5 pounds/MWh, which is simply sky-high, and the British government has to pay the difference, which is directly regarded by the EU as illegal state aid.
While the UK and the EU were going back and forth and arguing, environmentalists were not idle, and directly surrounded the construction site, and the momentum was huge. The project in the UK seems increasingly unsustainable.
At this time, EDF also felt the pressure, after all, it had already invested a billion pounds, and if the project was yellow, it would undoubtedly be a catastrophe for them. In this case, EDF had to seek foreign aid.
This is where China comes in handy. As a leading country in nuclear energy technology, China not only has the ability but also the willingness to participate in the international nuclear power market. Soon, CGN signed cooperation agreements with EDF and the United Kingdom on three major nuclear power projects, and China even offered to build one of them independently.
This is a good opportunity for China to expand its international influence, and for Britain and France, it is a relief in the snow. But the good times were short-lived, and as the project progressed, Britain began to worry that China's involvement could raise security and espionage problems.
This concern eventually led to CGN's forced withdrawal from the project, leaving behind a huge financial and technical gap. At this time, EDF was already at the end of its power, its stock price plummeted, and its profits plummeted.
Now the problem is that it can only be EDF itself that will take over this hot potato. But the cost of the project has skyrocketed from the original £16 billion to £46 billion, and completion has been delayed from 2023 to 2029.
This is undoubtedly a huge challenge for EDF. EDF had no choice but to turn to the British government for help, but the British government was very resolute and unwilling to invest more money.