Fury as PM gives go ahead to Hinkley Point… and dumps £30billion power bill on Brits

THERESA May was accused of dumping a £30billion power bill on the public yesterday after approving the country’s first nuclear power plant in 20 years.

The Government stunned industry experts by giving the go-ahead for the Chinese-backed Hinkley Point project without changing the terms of the deal.

Under the agreement, France’s EDF and China’s CGN will finance the construction of the site in Somerset.

In return they are guaranteed a price of at least £92.50 per megawatt hour for the power Hinkley produces, double the current market rate.

Any difference between that price and the market price once it is up and running will be picked up by households and firms for 35 years.

It is feared the “subsidy” will total £30billion over the lifetime of the plant, adding nearly £25 a year on each household’s electricity bill.

The prices were set in late 2013 by former Lib Dem Energy Secretary Ed Davey. He backed the deal again yesterday and claimed coalition Chancellor George Osborne had been “ready to shake on a higher price”.

But furious Tory backbencher Zac Goldsmith said: “At the end of its life, this new power plant will have generated the most expensive energy in the history of energy generation.”

Mrs May had delayed a decision on Hinkley earlier this summer due to security fears over the involvement of China’s state-owned CGN.

Announcing the deal in the Commons, Business Secretary Greg Clark said nuclear power has “always been an important part of ensuring our future low-carbon energy security”.

Hinkley is expected to create 25,000 jobs and Mr Clark said construction is worth £11billion to British firms.

But Peter Atherton, of consultants Cornwall Energy, said: “It’s a huge gamble economically. We’re locking ourselves into buying very expensive power over a very long period.”