Still no Hinkley nuclear deal but EDF shows there's life in the old fleet yet

Hinkley project is still very much in play despite lack of announcement over final investment decision Credit: Tim Ireland/PA

What's happening to EDF's Hinkley ambitions? Full year results today and still no final investment decision but the project remains very much in play.

What's the delay? The China General Nuclear Power Group have agreed to shoulder one third of the £18 billion of investment needed to build the nuclear power plant. They are signed-up in principle but evidently still haven't signed the all important contracts. Talks are "at an advanced stage" we're told, the project "will be launched soon."

It's squeaky-bum time for George Osborne. Getting the private sector to build the next generation of power plants Britain needs is only a good idea if you can find willing investors. Hinkley has struggled, to many the economics look unappealing.

This is a colossal commitment for EDF to make. Hinkley would swallow up one sixth of the company's annual investment for the next decade. The rewards are attractive but the risks are awesome; two similar projects underway in France and Finland are over-budget and behind schedule. The internal unease is understandable.

If EDF were to walk away it would be a political disaster of unimaginably high proportions for the government. Hinkley is the baseload of its energy policy. Absent Hinkley, what replaces Britain's coal-fired plants that are in the process of being shut down? There is no Plan B.

EDF have announced the lifespan of four of its nuclear power stations is set to be extended Credit: Anna Gowthorpe/PA

The good news for George Osborne, who has gone out of his way to court Chinese investment, is that EDF seems determined to cut a deal and that it has today unexpectedly extended the lifespan of four of their existing fleet of UK nuclear plants (Heysham 1 and 2, Hartlepool and East Lothian) by between 5 and 7 years.

That's valuable breathing space at a time when electricity generating capacity is being squeezed and there's anxiety about the risk of future of future power outages.