By Geert De Clercq
PARIS (Reuters) - French utility EDF (PA:EDF) should not delay the investment decision on plans to build two nuclear reactors in Britain as it could risk losing the contract, French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday.
Macron said he could understand calls to delay the 18 billion pound project until problems with two nuclear projects in Flamanville, France and Olkiluoto, Finland are sorted out, but the British government would see this as a renunciation of the project.
"We need to understand that a delay would create a strong risk that we would lose the contract," Macron told parliament in a briefing about EDF, which is 85 percent state owned.
The project was first announced in October 2013, but a final investment decision has been delayed as EDF struggled to find partners and financing. Chinese utility CGN signed up for a one-third stake in Oct. 2015, leaving EDF to fund the rest.
Macron said Chinese nuclear firms - which already have a strong presence in Britain - would be ready to take over the contract, which he said has an excellent return on equity.
He added that losing the contract would have grave consequences for investment and employment in the French nuclear industry and for its credibility.
Macron said EDF should make the Hinkley Point investment decision in early May, not at the next board meeting on March 30.
He hoped that by early April there would be an agreement about conflicts relating to Olkiluoto, which is the subject of an arbitration suit in which reactor builder Areva (PA:AREVA) and its Finnish customer TVO claim billions from one another.
The conflict is one of the elements delaying the planned takeover of Areva's nuclear reactor division by EDF.
Macron reiterated the French state is willing to recapitalise EDF and possibly renounce a cash dividend, but this should not be seen as an easy solution for EDF and that the firm would have to sell assets and cut costs first.
Macron also said France is considering supporting EDF with a mechanism modelled on the Contract for Difference (CfD) scheme the UK has put in place for Hinkley Point.
"The British have managed to negotiate long-term guarantees for nuclear newbuild with the European Commission, at a high price level, which opens perspectives," Macron said.
He said a CfD-style legal framework could facilitate investment in new nuclear reactors in France.
EDF CEO Jean-Bernard Levy has repeatedly said that at current low power market prices it is not possible to invest in new power generation assets.