SUGGESTIONS that completion of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station could be delayed by 11 years have been dismissed by the company which is building it.

A number of delays have already hit Europe’s largest construction site and currently Hinkley is not set to start generating electricity until June, 2027, two years behind its original schedule.

Now, French company EDF has struck a new deal with the Government which would allow it to start operating as late as 2036.

But an EDF spokesman said despite the new contract, Hinkley Point C’s schedule ‘remains unchanged’.

The spokesman said: “The power station’s clean home-grown electricity is needed to provide Britain with secure and affordable energy and to help the country kick its dependency on gas.

“The team at Hinkley Point C is working hard to make the plant operational as soon as possible.”

Stories of possible delays with the project arose after EDF renegotiated a deal with the Government’s Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC) over the £92.50 per megawatt hour ‘strike price’ which EDF is guaranteed to receive for the first 35 years Hinkley C is in operation.

The deal was that this could be scrapped if electricity was not being generated by Hinkley C by November 1, 2033, known as the ‘long-stop date’.

EDF started renegotiating with the LCCC during the pandemic period of 2021 and has now reached agreement to extend the date to November 1, 2036.

However, the LCCC said there was still contractual pressure on EDF to commission Hinkley C’s two nuclear reactors as soon as possible.

It said other targets in the contract meant the length of time for ‘strike price’ payments could still be shortened if Hinkley C did not start generating electricity by May, 2029.

A spokesman said: “The extenson reflects LCCC’s work with the HPC project over the last 20 months to understand the impacts of Covid-19, as well as the outcome of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s negotiations with CGN (a Chinese minority stakeholder in Hinkley) on the Sizewell C nuclear project.

“Extending the long-stop date will not impact the delivery date of the project.

“The terms of the contract provide an incentive to complete commissioning as soon as possible.”

The Government’s Energy Security Strategy published last year says it wants to see the UK generating 24GW of nuclear electricity by 2050, about 25 per cent of the projected demand.

At present, nuclear provides about 18 per cent, but by the end of the decade only one of the country’s ageing stations will still be open.

Hinkley C’s two European Pressurised Water Reactors (EPR) will eventually produce 3.2 gigawatts, enough to meet about seven per cent of the UK’s energy demand and power an average six million homes.

Anti-nuclear campaigners questioned why the new LCCC contract was needed if there would not be any delays with the Hinkley C project.

Stop Hinkley spokesman Roy Pumfrey said: “This contract change means EDF could still be getting State support for these reactors even if they cannot light a single light bulb until 2035.

“Given the failures of the rest of the world’s EPR reactors this seems quite possible, despite EDF’s claims.

“If it was not at least seen as a possibility, why did they change the contract? “Electricity consumers are being fleeced to pay for these white elephants.

“It is time the Government turned its attention to a serious energy efficiency programme and speeded up renewable energy schemes instead of sniping at onshore wind and solar farms.”