Julian Bray writes: The USA owned General Electric Co - never in the running for the Hinkley Point C project - is set to collect an astonishing $1.9 billion for a contract to supply steam turbines, generators and other equipment to the Hinkley Point C project, the United Kingdom's first nuclear power plant to be built in decades.
By approving 'Hinkley Point C' on Thursday, the UK government effectively green lighted the American GE to build two 1,770-megawatt Arabelle steam turbines and generators supplying, at a premium price, just 7 percent of the UK's power generation needs for the next 60 years.
What is not probably realised by a majority of parliamentarians is that the original power contract for Hinkley Point C was originally won by the very French Alstom company, in a competition, and the deal sealed several years ago and calculated in the much cheaper euro currency.
The U.S. industrial company, widely criticised last year, shrewdly acquired both the Hinkley Point C contract and the capability, when it purchased the power assets of France's Alstom last year.
The British Government under Prime Minister Theresa May approving the controversial US$ 24 billion (£18.17 billion ) project on Thursday, after putting it on hold for evaluation in July, but work continued on site during this period.
GE confirmed the French Alstom Company won the competition 'a few years ago.'
The UK decision "confirms it was not such a bad decision to buy Alstom," Andreas Lusch, CEO, steam power systems at GE Power, quoted in an interview on Thursday.
The project, being built by French state-controlled utility company EDF, includes an $8 billion investment from Chinese state-backed firm China General Nuclear Power Corporation.
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