Government makes wrong call on Hinkley

The UK government has announced that the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station project will go ahead. The decision is difficult to understand in the context of what the UK's future energy system needs to look like.

Reacting to the announcement, Karla Hill, a Director of Programmes for international law organisation ClientEarth, said:

“This decision shows a lack of long-term strategic thinking that will not help the UK’s transition to an energy system fit for the future. We should be moving to decentralised, renewable production, with a focus on demand and energy efficiency. Instead the government is locking consumers and taxpayers into a huge centralised infrastructure project.

“When Theresa May announced a pause to examine the decision, we were hopeful that the government had realised what a mistake this would be. We will now have to deal with Hinkley Point C posing a constant threat to the renewable, decentralised energy system that consumers and the climate need.”