If the EPRs get built they will run since operating costs are minor compared to the capital cost of building the reactors. However there's something wrong with the EPR construction process, I'm not sure what but all four current EPR builds (France, Finland and two in China) are still not complete and operational and they should have been working by now. There's an element of prototype build in this delay but that's not the whole story.
As for the strike price it slightly undercuts the legally-mandated buy-in price for grid wind in the UK (on-shore wind pricing is £95.50 per MWhr, off-shore is £149.50 per MWhr) on the basis that it's carbon-free like wind so it should receive the price supports wind does. In addition the amount of power delivered will not vary depending on weather conditions unlike wind -- I've seen the UK's grid wind output reported to be as low as 50 MW during a very still day and that's from a dataplate installation of about 8GW of turbines.
I think the aim of the high strike price being asked for Hinckley Point C is to boost the initial return on investment in the first few decades of operation. Remember though that these reactors will be in operation for at least 60 years, possibly more so the large investment in the build is actually not that much considering the amount of electricity the reactors will produce during their lifespan.
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timeasmymeasure
Strike Price of Hinckley Point C
Date: 2016-07-31 09:54 am (UTC)As for the strike price it slightly undercuts the legally-mandated buy-in price for grid wind in the UK (on-shore wind pricing is £95.50 per MWhr, off-shore is £149.50 per MWhr) on the basis that it's carbon-free like wind so it should receive the price supports wind does. In addition the amount of power delivered will not vary depending on weather conditions unlike wind -- I've seen the UK's grid wind output reported to be as low as 50 MW during a very still day and that's from a dataplate installation of about 8GW of turbines.
I think the aim of the high strike price being asked for Hinckley Point C is to boost the initial return on investment in the first few decades of operation. Remember though that these reactors will be in operation for at least 60 years, possibly more so the large investment in the build is actually not that much considering the amount of electricity the reactors will produce during their lifespan.