Austria has filed a lawsuit with the European Court of Justice against the U.K.'s new nuclear plant to court, government official announced Monday.
The legal action ison grounds that nuclear energy subsidies would negatively affect power prices in Europe.
"Subsidies are there to support modern technologies that lie in the general interest of all EU member states. This is not the case with nuclear power,” the Austrian chancellor, Werner Faymann, said.
On July 2,ten German and Austrian energy companies announced they had come together to file collective action against the subsidy.
In 2014, the European Commission approved state aid for the £16 billion ($25 billion) Hinkley Point Cnuclear plant with potential capacity of 3.2 gigawatts. The subsidy is to last for 35 years after the plant's anticipated opening in 2023.
French utility EDF will build two new reactors at Hinkley Point,next to the existing Hinkley Point A station, which is being decommissioned, and the Hinkley Point B station, which is operational.
France and the U.K. have committed to invest in emissions-free nuclear energy as part of their battle with climate change.
Meanwhile, Austria and Germany is on the path to renewable energy by phasing out nuclear energy and believes subsidies for nuclear plants is at odds with the country's move towards renewables.
(Anadolu Agency)
