Hinkley Point C Power Station: Compensation
(asked on 29th June 2017) - View Source
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the total compensation payable to the NNB Generation Company in the event of the shutdown of the Hinkley Point C project due to the existing Secretary of State Investor Agreement; and if he will make a statement.
Under the Secretary of State Investor Agreement (SOSIA) the total compensation payable to the NNB Generation Company in the event of the shutdown of the Hinkley Point C project is set down in the Departmental Minute* laid before Parliament on 21 October 2015. This explains:
Under the SOSIA, in certain, highly unlikely, scenarios e.g. HMG permanently prevents the construction or operation of the facility or a reactor or where there is a political shut down of HPC by a UK, EU or international Competent Authority, payments could be up to around £22bn excluding non-decommissioning operational costs that may be incurred after any shutdown. However, the liability to make payments under the SOSIA is almost entirely within the control of HMG.