Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-11-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 3 November (HL3059) concerning the proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear power station project, what alternatives to the contract with EDF and China were explored, and with what results.
Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
When the then Government first asked for expressions of interest in Final Investment Decisions (FID) enabling, EDF was the only nuclear developer to come forward, so it was appropriate to enter bilateral negotiations with EDF on this project. This Government continues to explore many different options for providing secure, affordable and clean electricity, making use of different technologies and commercial developers, including nuclear developers. The UK requires reliable, safe, base load electricity from new nuclear, and other low carbon generation sources, and price is one consideration amongst a number for achieving this.