EDF to make final decision on going ahead with Hinkley point project

Electricite de France SA has to still make the final decision to on proceeding with a £18-billion nuclear power plant in the UK before its annual general meeting in May, Bloomberg reported citing three people familiar with the matter.

According to two of the people, approval for the project could come as early as this month. The people asked not to be named as the matter was private.

When asked yesterday, if there would be a decision by EDF's AGM, chief executive officer Jean-Bernard Levy told reporters at the Civaux nuclear plant in Western France that it would come ''soon.''

Speculation had been rife about the future of the proposed Hinkley Point power plant since EDF's chief financial officer Thomas Piquemal resigned this month, saying the project would put the company under too much financial strain.

The French economy minister Emmanuel Macron said, the state-controlled company could count on fresh financing from the French government if needed.

According to Macron, who spoke to reporters at the Civaux plant, the project in southwest England would be ''great'' for EDF and dropping plans would be a mistake.

He said, measures for supporting the company would be announced by early May, adding that the utility would also need to make efforts to reduce costs.

"If there is a need to recapitalise, we will do so," Macron was quoted as saying during a visit to the Civaux nuclear plant in central France by the Financial Times newspaper. "If we need to forego [EDF] dividends again, we will do so. We will all make an effort. The government as shareholder has started doing so."

The remarks come after only a few days of EDF chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy writing to staff promising not to go ahead with the much-delayed project unless it received fresh financial backing from the government.

"We are negotiating with the state to obtain commitments allowing us to secure our financial position," Levy wrote on 11 March. "It is clear that I will not engage in this EDF project as long as these conditions are not met."