THE Hinkley C project has been rocked by yet more delays, after a letter to EDF employees revealed the development has hit financial woes.

THE chairman and CEO of EDF stated that the energy company is negotiating with the French government to obtain further monetary support.

Jean-Bernard Lévy has said that a review of the project has identified areas where the project could be de-risked.

The development of the power plant was thrown into fresh doubts as Mr Lévy's letter stated that the project cannot proceed without additional financial support from the French government, who own 85% of the company.

Levy said: "We are currently negotiating with the French state to obtain commitments allowing us to secure our financial position.

"I am sure that this project is a good project for the group and that in the near future, all the conditions will come together for it to be definitely launched.

"It is clear that I will not engage EDF in this project before these conditions are met."

French President Francois Hollande has demanded that France’s state electricity giant presses ahead with the £18billion project despite growing misgivings at home over the proposals.

EDF needs to come up with more than £16 billion to match the £2 billion it has already spent.

The news comes after the former project director of EDF Hinkley Point C has hit back at claims he left the company as he did not ‘have full faith’ in the project.

The firm announced that Chris Bakken would be leaving the company in February.

Speculation at the time suggested Mr Bakken, who is heading to the United States, was leaving the position partly due to the ongoing saga over a final decision on the Somerset power plant.

But in a rebuttal written as a letter to The Times newspaper, he also states that abandoning Hinkley as a form of future electricity would jeopardise ‘jobs for the 25,000 people who will work on its construction’.

Published on March 10 his letter reads: “Sir, your leader suggests that I left EDF Energy because I did not appear to have full faith in the Hinkley Point C project.

“Far from it. The reason for my departure was that I was born and brought up in the US and decided to move back to the US so that my wife and I could return to our family.

“The economics of the project have stood up to repeated scrutiny.

“EDF and its Chinese partner are shouldering the construction risks and consumers will not pay a penny until the plant generates its reliable low carbon electricity.

“Nor is it fair to compare the strike price with today’s depressed wholesale electricity prices.

“Hinkley will be competitive with all other forms of future electricity generation and its power will be available when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine.

“Abandoning this would not only deny the UK seven per cent of potential power supply at a time when it will be most needed but also jeopardises jobs for the 25,000 people who will work on its construction.”

From April 6, Mr Bakken will take up the post of executive vice president and chief nuclear officer for US-based Energy Corporation.

He led the way with regards to Hinkley C’s design, licensing, procurement, construction and commissioning.