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Finance & Investment This week 'Mischief making' will not derail Hinkley NIA chief Tom Greatrex says investment to date indicates EDF's commitment to the £18bn project The Hinkley Point C new nuclear project will go ahead, despite the "mischief making" comments of opponents, according to Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) chief executive Tom Greatrex. Speaking to Utility Week (see p8), Greatrex said there is lots of speculation, partly because EDF has remained quiet about when it will make its final investment decision. He said: "We are in an environment where there is a lot of attention and mischief making… It is the last chance for people to set out their concerns and objections to it." Despite the rumours surrounding the £18 billion project, Greatrex said he was confident it would proceed because of the time, effort and money the French energy giant had already invested. "Lots of things have happened [at the Hinkley Point site] and if there was a serious suggestion EDF was just playing for time and was not committed to the project, I don't think we would have seen a lot of that going on." He said that this work included preparatory work on site, EDF's creation of an office in Bristol and the agree- ment in principle with contractors and local suppliers. "A lot of contracts are ready to sign so there isn't a huge gap once the final decision has been made." Last month, EDF held a board meeting that con- firmed the significant recapitalisation of the company to let it "proceed with its strategic investment programme". In the wake of this decision, it has been reported that the final investment decision on Hinkley Point is to be made in September. MB ENERGY Dong's oil and gas 'earnings to drop' Earnings from Dong Energy's oil and gas division are likely to drop as price hedges roll off over the next two years, Moody's rat- ings agency has warned. The agency confirmed the long-term Baa1 ratings of Dong Energy, but emphasised that its outlook for the future is nega- tive because of a reduction in earnings from oil and gas, and a weakening in its financial profile over 2016/17. Also, there are likely to be further costs related to the restructuring of this business. Although Dong said it expects this to be offset by growth in its wind business, Moody's said it does not view anticipated devel- opment and divestment gains as having the same debt capacity as other earnings. Dong has installed 3GW of offshore windfarms, and, over 2016-20 it plans a further 3.7GW. ENERGY Iberdrola's UK profits fall by 7% Iberdrola, parent of Scottish Power, has reported a 6.8 per cent drop in Q1 profit from its UK networks business and a 3 per cent fall from the genera- tion and supply part of the UK business for the same period. The company said the net- work business's Ebitda of €288.5 million is in line with expecta- tions and reflects the phasing of investment in the distribution and transmission networks. It added that the 3 per cent fall in UK generation and supply Ebitda to €224.6 million was the result of milder weather in the first three months of the year. Renewables Ebitda in the UK was down 27 per cent to €108.4 million in Q1 2016, compared with a record first quarter in 2015. ELECTRICITY Scottish Power signs windfarm contract Scottish Power Renewables has closed Europe's largest contract for a single wind energy project in a major deal with Siemens for a 102-turbine offshore scheme. The contract for the East Anglia One project, including a five-year service agreement, will be worth up to a third of the overall £2.5 billion project cost. It came on the same day the Low Carbon Contracts Company confirmed contract for difference milestones for the project had been fulfilled. Scottish Power Renewables chief executive Keith Anderson said: "Scottish Power remains on track to invest over £1.3 bil- lion in the UK this year, in line with our five-year plan to invest over £6.3 billion." EDF's silence prompts speculation, says Greatrex UTILITY WEEK | 6TH - 12TH MAY 2016 | 17 Stock watch 255 300 250 250 245 200 240 150 235 100 TESLA MOTORS SHARE PRICE, 26 APRIL - 3 MAY 27 Apr 26 Apr 28 Apr 29 Apr 2 May 3May TESLA MOTORS SHARE PRICE, 8 FEBRUARY - 2 MAY 8 Feb 22 Feb 7 Mar 21 Mar 4 Apr 18 Apr 2 May Shares in Tesla Motors have continued to fall amid speculation that the company has allowed more than two reservations of its "more affordable" Model 3 to be made per customer. Shares fell to a low of 235.75p on the morning of Monday 2 May, down from highs of 254.76p the previous week. Shares in the company have been on an upward trajectory since they hit lows of 143.67p in February, reaching highs of 265.42p on 6 April.