The government has committed taxpayers to a “risky and expensive” deal over the new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point that could lead to higher energy bills, the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned.

In a new report the NAO said the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) had failed to sufficiently consider the costs to consumers of Hinkley Point C, and that it will not be known for decades whether the deal represents value for money.

Beis finalised the deal to support the £18 billion Hinkley Point C reactor last September, with energy consumers paying subsidies on their bills for the scheme for 35 years.

But payments that will be added to consumer bills have ballooned from an estimated £6 billion to £30 billion, the NAO said.

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Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said that Beis had “committed electricity consumers and taxpayers to a high cost and risky deal in a changing energy marketplace”.

“Time will tell whether the deal represents value for money, but we cannot say the department has maximised the chances that it will be,” he said.

Delays have pushed back construction of Hinkley Point C PA

Nuclear power is seen as a relatively cheap way of reducing the UK’s carbon emissions, but the case for Hinkley Point has weakened since the government agreed key commercial terms in 2013, the NAO said.

The company building the nuclear plant, which is two-thirds owned by French energy giant EDF and one-third by China General Nuclear Power Group, will receive a guaranteed price for the power it generates.

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That “strike price” is set at £92.50 per megawatt/hour in 2012 prices, but it was agreed without competition from other schemes.

Since then falling fossil fuel costs have reduced the wholesale price of electricity meaning the forecast top-up payments on consumer bills have soared.

Meanwhile, delays have pushed back construction of Hinkley Point C, while the expected costs of most low-carbon alternatives to nuclear power, such as offshore wind, have fallen more than expected.

Under the terms of the deal, consumers are locked into paying for Hinkley Point C long after 2030, when sources such as offshore wind are expected to be even cheaper.

The cost of energy from offshore wind has fallen more than expected in recent years PA

Campaigners heralded the report, but a spokesman for EDF Energy said it still showed Hinkley Point C remained good value compared with alternative choices.

A Beis spokesman said: “Hinkley Point C will be the first new nuclear plant in a generation.

“This was an important strategic decision to ensure that nuclear is part of a diverse energy mix.

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“Consumers won’t pay a penny until Hinkley is built; it will provide clean, reliable electricity powering six million homes and creating more than 26,000 jobs and apprenticeships in the process.”