This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The UK’s first new nuclear power plants for decades face fresh delays amid reports that French energy giant EDF is unsure it can finance the £18bn project.

Directors were expected to meet this week to sign off on a plan to build two nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

A final decision has been on the cards since October, when China’s state nuclear firm CGN announced that it would take a 33.5% stake in the project during a visit to the UK by the premier, Xi Jinping.

But executives at state-owned EDF, which owns the rest of the project, have delayed a final decision amid funding problems, according to French financial journal Les Echos.

It said EDF was putting pressure on the French government to help find new backers to come on board alongside CGN.

While directors are due to discuss the issue at a board meeting on Wednesday, Les Echos reported, no decision will be made until the next board meeting, which will happen before final results are released on 15 February.

EDF did not return requests for comment.

The opening of Hinkley Point C has been delayed twice, from 2017 to 2025, while the UK government has faced criticism for agreeing to pay EDF £92.50 per unit of electricity, around double the market rate.

A group of its own employee-shareholders have also urged EDF to ditch the Hinkley plan, saying it could put the company’s survival at risk.

Green campaigners said any fresh delay unmasked multiple flaws in a deal intended to kickstart a new generation of nuclear power in the UK.

“The EDF board is clearly rattled as they delay yet again this crucial investment decision,” said Greenpeace executive director John Sauven, adding that the delay “could well signal curtains for Hinkley”.

“EDF managers as well as employee representatives on the board are deeply concerned this project is too risky and too expensive,” Sauven added. “George Osborne is almost alone in defending Hinkley’s honour.”