Brussels, 24/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Union will examine when it is notified whether the plan by French companies EDF and Areva to build two pressurised water reactor (PWR) nuclear power plants in the United Kingdom with Chinese partners complies with the EU state aid rules, said Antoine Colombani, a spokesman for the EU Competition Commissioner, at a routine press conference on Tuesday 22 October.
Under a €18 billion agreement signed by the British government and EDF, the latter will get a guarantee from the British state to enable it to borrow at reduced rates and have a guaranteed minimum price for electricity generated by the two nuclear plants. This means that, if electricity prices fall below the guaranteed level, then the British state will pay the difference. This type of deal normally only applies for renewable energy and the use of such guarantees for nuclear power is highly controversial.
In answer to questions from reporters wanting to know whether nuclear energy is the same as renewable energy as far as EU state aid rules for energy go, the Commission spokesman said that the EU has renewable energy objectives, but is neutral about nuclear energy, so member states are free to use nuclear power if they wish. He said that the new state aid for the environment and energy guidelines for 2014-2020 (see EUROPE 10939) do not include specific measures for nuclear power. When the Commission is notified of the power plant plans, the British aid scheme will be examined according to its merits on a case-by-case approach, just as under the current guidelines. (FG/transl.fl)