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EDF’s Hinkley Point nuclear power site in Somerset, England

A group of more than 100 engineers at French utility EDF have come out in support of the company’s contentious plans to build a flagship nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in the UK, after some of their counterparts said the project should be delayed.

An internal note to company employees by the EDF engineers, which was issued this week, said: “We are convinced that EDF is able to build and deliver the two Hinkley Point reactors on time . . . Hinkley Point is politically, economically and industrially, one of the most significant projects of our era.”

The Financial Times reported last week that some senior engineers at EDF had written a policy paper calling for at least a two-year delay to the £18bn project, which involves two reactors and is meant to be operational by 2025. 

The paper said that the “realistic service date was 2027” due to the size of the project, continuing design modifications and the “very low” competency of French supplier Areva in making some of the large components. 

The contrasting visions from the two groups of EDF engineers point to a wider battle going on inside the company over whether to make the much-delayed final investment decision on Hinkley at a board meeting on May 11. 

Last month Thomas Piquemal, EDF finance director, resigned over concerns that the project could threaten the company’s future. The group’s €37bn of net debt dwarfs its €19.1bn market capitalisation.

This week, FO, one of the unions with employees at EDF, threatened to go on strike if the utility goes ahead with Hinkley, saying they would call for industrial action if management even schedules a board meeting on the issue. 

Ségolène Royal, the French energy minister, told a radio station on Wednesday that delaying the project was “still up for discussion”, adding that it needed to provide “further proof of its worth”. She added there should be proof the investment would not hinder renewable energy development. 

This was in contrast to comments from Emmanuel Macron, the French economy minister, who said last month that he expected the final investment decision on the project to be taken by “early May”. EDF has also said the project will go ahead as planned. 

Critics, including Mr Piquemal, said Hinkley was too big a risk for EDF because of technological problems with the Areva-designed EPR reactor technology and because the company’s balance sheet is already stretched. DEBT 

The CFE-CGC union, which represents managerial staff at EDF, has been the most critical of Hinkley.

Late last month, Christian Taxil, EDF board member for CFE-CGC, said in a letter to employees he would vote against Hinkley. 

The CGT, EDF’s most powerful union with three seats on the board, has also asked management to delay the project.