Gerard Magnin said the project is “very risky” and suggested it could bankrupt EDF
One of EDF’s board members has resigned ahead of the final investment decision on Hinkley Point C, according to reports.
Gerard Magnin, one of the 11 main directors appointed by the EDF Shareholders’ Meeting, wrote a resignation letter to chief executive Jean Bernard-Levy, calling Hinkley a “very risky” project.
In the letter, seen by Reuters, Magnin wrote: “As a board member proposed by the government shareholder, I no longer want to support a strategy that I do not agree with.”
He added: “Let’s hope that Hinkley Point will not drag EDF in the same abyss as Areva.”
Areva had to be rescued from bankruptcy by the French government earlier this year.
After his resignation Magnin will not attend today’s board meeting, Reuters has reported.
In his letter, Magnin also said he expected at the time of his appointment in 2014 that EDF would move more towards renewable energy but said the state-owned French energy giant is shifting even more towards nuclear.
Nuclear energy provides 75% of France’s electricity needs, with all of the country’s nuclear reactors managed by EDF.
But the country is trying to move towards more renewable energy, with a target of 50% of its electricity coming from nuclear by 2025.
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