EDF commits to making a final investment decision on £10bn project before the end of the year

EDF's Hinkley Point C

EDF has committed to make a decision on whether to go ahead with its £10bn Hinkley nuclear power plant project before the end of this year.

In a presentation to investors to accompany its half-year results the firm said it would make up its mind whether to push ahead with the project “before the end of 2013”.

The announcement confirms indications from industry sources who have said that a decision is not expected until September at the earliest.

As Building revealed in May, the delay to the investment decision, which had originally been slated for the end of 2012, will mean the civil works, being delivered by Laing O’Rourke and Bouygues, will start about six months behind EDF’s last published schedule, which said that it would start at the beginning of 2014.

The firm has already spent millions working-up the scheme and in April it announced that it was cutting back its staff on the project to control costs.

In its half-year report the firm said: “Discussions on the introduction of contracts for difference (CfD) are continuing with the British government.

“These contracts are designed to guarantee the economic balance of new low-carbon electricity generation facilities, and once approved by the European Union, should make the Hinkley Point C project an attractive prospect to many partner investors.”