Alan Whitehead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alan Whitehead on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what circumstances would constitute a political shutdown of the proposed Hinkley Point C power station by the EU or international competent authority which would trigger a payment to the operators of that power station.

Andrea Leadsom

As explained in DECC’s Departmental Minute of 21 October, a political shut down would be an action by a UK, EU or international Competent Authority which shutdown, or prevented the completion of, Hinkley Point C (HPC) – except where this action is done on grounds of protecting health, nuclear safety, security, environmental, nuclear transport or nuclear safeguards related matters. If my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State decides to direct the Low Carbon Contracts Company Ltd to offer a Contract for Difference to HPC, the terms of the contract will be published (with commercially sensitive information removed) once it has been entered in to by the parties.