British Energy wary over output target

Nuclear power generator British Energy lowered its target for output today as it continued on work to counter “under-investment” in prior years.

The group, which was rescued from the brink of bankruptcy two years ago, said improvement in its performance was expected to take time and that it would not meet hopes for output of 63 terrawatt hours (TWh) across this year and next.

It said it would achieve a figure of 61 TWh in the period to the end of April while output for the 2006 financial year was likely to be around 63 TWh.

Despite the lower output expectations, which reflected the disruption of recent work at plants at Heysham, Lancashire and Hartlepool, British Energy said higher wholesale prices helped generate profits of £49m (€72m) for the three months to October 2. A comparable figure with the previous year is not possible because of the impact of the restructuring.

The company meets around a fifth of the UK’s energy needs and has an estate of eight nuclear stations with a capacity of 10,000 megawatts.