EDF is considering reviving plans to install a so-called fish disco in the Bristol Channel to ward off marine life approaching its nuclear plant Hinkley Point C.
The French state-owned company has written to communities around the project, being built in Somerset, saying new technology could make its planned “acoustic deterrent” system “safe and effective”.
The move marks the latest step in a long-running saga over the plant’s fish protection measures, which has become emblematic of a wider national debate between development and environmental protection measures.
This week, the Financial Times reported that the final price tag for a tunnel to protect bats from the High Speed 2 rail network between London and the West Midlands is about £119mn in today’s prices — a fifth higher than previously thought.
EDF proposed an “acoustic deterrent” as part of its original plans for the 3.2-gigawatt power station. The system was devised to protect fish at risk of being sucked into the plant’s machinery as it draws in water for cooling.
But the company has for several years been trying to ditch the proposal, arguing it would endanger divers having to install and maintain the system, and may not be effective. It proposed to instead develop salt marshes to shelter shoals.
The move drew criticism from campaigners who argue there would be a “significant” impact on marine species without the deterrent. EDF has rejected this characterisation, pointing to regulators’ estimates that the number of fish harmed would be relatively small.
Hinkley Point C is already several years delayed and billions of pounds over budget, and EDF warned the long-running process over fish protection could cause further setbacks.
In their letter to local communities, sent last week and seen by the FT, Andrew Cockcroft, head of stakeholder relations at Hinkley Point C, said it had “recently become aware” of innovation that meant a new type of deterrent could be installed.
“The technology, pioneered in the south-west, is proven and deployed internationally [ . . . ] We are now working with experts to provide the scientific data to underpin the case for using it at Hinkley Point C,” he said.
EDF will “pause all design and development work on salt marsh creation” in the meantime, he added.
Mark Lloyd, chief executive of The Rivers Trust, said it welcomed this “about turn by EDF to honour their commitment to install a fish deterrent in this very sensitive environment after trying to wriggle out of it”.
He added: “We will have to see what they propose and assess its efficacy in due course.”