UK energy bill payers will hand £2bn a year to EDF for new power stations

French government-owned company to receive funding for Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C

• Business live – latest updates

UK energy bill payers will hand over £2bn a year in subsidies to EDF, the French company building two nuclear power stations, according to government figures.

EDF, owned by the French government, will be entitled to £1bn in annual payments as soon as Hinkley Point C, in Somerset, comes on to the grid in 2030. The sum is due under the contracts-for-difference system that guarantees low-carbon energy companies a fixed price for the electricity they generate.