Hinkley ‘risky and expensive’ says National Audit Office

Responding to today’s report from the National Audit Office that says the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s deal for Hinkley Point C has locked consumers into a risky and expensive project with uncertain strategic and economic benefits, Molly, who is MEP for the region in which the nuclear power station is to be built, said:

“The NAO report confirms what critics have been saying about Hinkley for years. The whole project has been ideologically driven and is economically illiterate. With the price of renewables falling rapidly the deal can no longer pass the government’s own value-for-money test and will burden a generation of consumers and businesses with excessive electricity prices. The Green Party stands by our manifesto commitment to cancel this risky and uneconomic project.

“The irony that this white elephant is to be built in the South West, the region of England with the greatest potential for renewable energy, will not be lost on many. We have the innovation, skills and resources to provide 100% of our electricity cleanly, safely and at lower costs than nuclear, and create thousands of new long-term jobs in the process. All we are missing is the political will to make this happen.

“The NAO report provides another opportunity to end this expensive charade and move our energy generation towards cheaper renewables. We can and must seize this chance to move power supply away from foreign corporations dumping outdated nuclear technology on the UK and towards local communities owning and generating renewable power themselves through cooperatives and social enterprises.”