UK hung parliament a threat to new nukes

UK election uncertainty is heightening coalition risk, clouding energy policy and nuclear power investment, as utilities and developers await Ofgem reforms and clarity on renewables, market design, and capacity replacement.

Multi-billion pound investment in Britain's energy sector, particularly in nuclear plants, could be under threat in the event of a hung parliament, an executive from a utility planning to build them said recently.

Opinion polls suggest no political party may win an overall majority in the British elections, which are just weeks away, making the investment climate too risky for developers to push ahead with their plans, even as Britain must soon decide whether to invest billions in more atomic energy.

"It could possibly make some investment inconceivable, for instance nuclear," RWE npower designate chief executive, Volker Beckers, told reporters on the sidelines of the Future of Utilities conference in London.

He said although the opposition Conservative Party supported the ruling Labour government's push to replace Britain's aging nuclear fleet with new reactors across the UK, it was unclear what stance a new government, that might include the Liberal Democrat Party, would take on nuclear power.

The Lib Dems oppose plans to build more nuclear power stations nationwide, which they say "will soak up subsidy, centralize energy production and hinder development of Britain's vast renewable resources."

Through its Horizon Nuclear Power joint venture with rival German utility E.ON, RWE plans to build up to 6,000 megawatts of new nuclear capacity by 2025 at Wylfa in Wales and Oldbury in southern England, as Germans and French increasingly shape Britain's nuclear industry.

Energy regulator Ofgem said last month Britain urgently needs to reform its power sector to ensure secure and sustainable energy supplies, warning that the closure of aging power stations demanded swift and far-reaching energy market reforms to meet tough emission targets and keep the lights on.

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