The British government stands to make more than £400m in the hotly contested auction of land to build new nuclear power stations as prices have soared. The bidding has become so intense that it has forced out one of the three main bidders.
The consortium of Spain's Iberdrola, the French utility GDF Suez, and Britain's Scottish and Southern Energy has dropped out of the race, leaving EDF of France and the German partnership of RWE and Eon to continue in a bid process launched almost two months ago.
People close to the bidding said that the Iberdrola/GDF/SSE consortium had decided to quit after the price of one of the three sites on offer - Bradwell in Essex - jumped from an original reserve price of £40m to a bid of £160m yesterday.
The government's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is also selling sites at Wylfa in Anglesey and Oldbury in Gloucestershire. Together the three sites had an original reserve price of £180m, less than half the level of bids placed as of yesterday.
The auction appears close to a conclusion. Bidding will continue, rising by increments of at least £5m each time, until there has not been a bid on a site for 24 hours. Unless EDF, the German consortium or a new bidder puts in a new offer for one of the sites, it could end as soon as today.
The intense competition signals the strong interest in tapping into what promises to be the most lucrative nuclear market in Europe in the near term.
EDF took a leading position in Britain's nuclear industry with last year's £12.4bn takeover of British Energy, which owns most of the country's working nuclear power stations and many of the best sites for new reactors. Under the deal, EDF was only allowed to bid for the Bradwell site.
The consortium of Spain's Iberdrola, the French utility GDF Suez, and Britain's Scottish and Southern Energy has dropped out of the race, leaving EDF of France and the German partnership of RWE and Eon to continue in a bid process launched almost two months ago.
People close to the bidding said that the Iberdrola/GDF/SSE consortium had decided to quit after the price of one of the three sites on offer - Bradwell in Essex - jumped from an original reserve price of £40m to a bid of £160m yesterday.
The government's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is also selling sites at Wylfa in Anglesey and Oldbury in Gloucestershire. Together the three sites had an original reserve price of £180m, less than half the level of bids placed as of yesterday.
The auction appears close to a conclusion. Bidding will continue, rising by increments of at least £5m each time, until there has not been a bid on a site for 24 hours. Unless EDF, the German consortium or a new bidder puts in a new offer for one of the sites, it could end as soon as today.
The intense competition signals the strong interest in tapping into what promises to be the most lucrative nuclear market in Europe in the near term.
EDF took a leading position in Britain's nuclear industry with last year's £12.4bn takeover of British Energy, which owns most of the country's working nuclear power stations and many of the best sites for new reactors. Under the deal, EDF was only allowed to bid for the Bradwell site.
Source: The Financial Times
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