The proposed £14 billion power plant, to be built at Hinkley Point in Somerset, would eventually be capable of powering some five million homes.
It is believed that EDF hopes to build two new reactors at Hinkley that would provide approximately seven percent of the UK’s electricity needs, while employing 25,000 people on the construction of the project alone. The energy giant says the project would generate taxes equivalent to a few percentage points of what the entire financial sector yields for the exchequer.
Hinkley C, on the Somerset coast, would be one of the UK's biggest infrastructure projects for years with analysts estimating that the power plant would cost more to bring into service than the London 2012 Olympics. Nevertheless the UK government has been keen to highlight that the long-term benefits would far outweigh the costs and any disruption caused by the build.
