BE sale gets European approval
23 December 2008
The acquisition of British Energy (BE) by Electricité de France (EdF) has been approved by European authorities, but both parties will have to divest power stations, and more land must be sold for new nuclear build. BE's Eggborough coal-fired power plant and EdF's gas-fired Sutton Bridge plant are to be sold, as must sufficient land at either Dungeness or Heysham to build a new nuclear power plant. The European Commission said this land should be sold "at the purchaser's choice." One of the three options held by BE and EdF for new grid connections at Hinkley Point must be ended, and the firm must sell a certain minimum volume of power on the British wholesale market.