4 December 2012

Lake Acquisitions Limited

Life extension of Hinkley Point B and Hunterston B power stations

Lake Acquisitions Limited is pleased to announce that following approval by the EDF Energy Nuclear Generation Group Ltd Board and, having completed the necessary technical, safety and economic evaluation and received the relevant external consents, the decision has been made to extend the lives of Hinkley Point B and Hunterston B power stations by seven years.  This decision moves the formal scheduled closure date to 2023.  As previously disclosed, the units operate at approximately 70% load due to boiler temperature restrictions.

EDF Energy's strategy is to seek life extensions for all its nuclear power stations where it is safe and commercially viable to do so and has implemented a Lifetime Programme to underpin this.  On 16 February 2012, EDF Energy announced its strategic target of securing plant life extensions by an average of seven years for the AGR fleet and 20 years for Sizewell B.  Today's announcement is in line with this expectation.

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