The publication reported that while the talks are still at an early stage, Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) and Centrica are the first UK companies to show an interest in building nuclear power stations in their domestic market. The development of a new generation of power stations in the UK, which has been estimated to cost around GBP30 billion, will begin once the UK government green-lights nuclear power stations later this year.
According to Dow Jones Energy Service, so far, French utility Electricite de France has been the only company to publicly reveal an interest in building nuclear power stations in the UK.
The Sunday Telegraph said that British Energy, Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) and Centrica had declined to comment on the situation, but speculated that while SSE and Centrica do not generate nuclear power, they would be able to provide British Energy with a significant retail customer base.
The publication cited a senior industry executive as stating: The key value of British Energy is its sites. It makes sense for the company to want as much competition for those sites as possible. Non-nuclear partners like Scottish and Southern would allow it to keep a bigger slice as they would need its nuclear expertise.
The Telegraph speculated that the involvement of a group of domestic companies would almost certainly be welcomed by the UK government.
