Austria plans to sue the European Commission if it gives clearance to the £16bn Hinkley Point nuclear power plant in the UK.
Almost 25% of the EU policymakers oppose the deal to pay a guaranteed price of £92.50 per megawatt hour for the power produced in the plant to EDF and its partners for 35 years once the first reactor goes on line.
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This price is almost two times the existing wholesale power price.
A vote on this issue is expected on Wednesday.
The project, to be built by French utility EDF at Hinkley Point, will enable the UK to shift away from coal-fired plants to nuclear plants for power generation in order to avoid future power shortages as old facilities are retired.
In a letter to the European Commission’s president Jose Manuel Barroso, Austrian chancellor Werner Faymann and vice-chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner stated that Austria would resort to legal action if the project is given an official approval by the Brussels.
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By GlobalDataReuters reported Faymann as saying: "Should the EU Commission undertake this step, then it must expect a lawsuit at the highest court.
"Alternative forms of energy are worthy of subsidies, not nuclear energy."
Mitterlehner said: "Hinkley Point … would set a negative precedence to open this type of subsidy for nuclear energy. The EU-Commission must prevent this, if not, it must expect a lawsuit from Austria at the European Court of Justice."
Image: The Hinkley Point nuclear power station. Photo: courtesy of Richard Baker.
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