Hinkley nuclear power is being priced out by renewables | Nils Pratley

The UK should concentrate on wind- and gas-fired stations, and involve nuclear only if it can vaguely compete on price

Hinkley Point C nuclear power station was conceived in the days when offshore wind cost 150 per megawatt hour and a few misguided souls, some of them government ministers, thought a barrel of oil was heading towards $200.

Successive governments swallowed the line that Hinkley represented a plausible answer to the UK's threefold energy conundrum - keeping the lights on, reducing carbon emissions and producing the juice at affordable prices for consumers and business.