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EDF Energy chief executive Vincent de Rivaz said his company "and our investment partner Centrica" aim to take a final investment decision on its planned nuclear plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset "around the end of the year".

De Rivaz said EDF’s firm aim remained four new nuclear units, two each at Himkley Point and Sizewell, saying the decision by German companies Eon and RWE to dispose of their Horizon nuclear project was due to those companies’ finances and nuclear shutdown decisions in Germany.

But speaking at EDF Energy’s Talk Power customer conference, de Rivaz said the company’s determination “must continue to be matched by visible momentum from government” in the form of “steady, tangible progress with electricity market reform”.

He said the contract for difference feed in tariff was at the heart of the investment, insisting that the deal must provide balanced benefits to customers and investors, because “if it is not balanced it is not stable and that’s not sustainable”.

Click here to read an interview in 2009 with EDF Energy’s Humprey Cadoux Hudson about the company’s nuclear new-build ambitions