A LAWSUIT that could impact on the Hinkley Point C nuclear power project has been delayed.

On Monday the Austrian government was set to file the complaint on Monday against the European Commission decision to give the nuclear power project the green light, however it has now been put back until later this week.

The power station is expected to provide seven per cent of the UK’s electricity by 2023.

The case concerns the British government’s guarantee of a 35-year fixed electricity rate to French energy group EDF, arguing that the UK’s loan guarantees over the period constitutes illegal state aid.

Austrian Deputy Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner has said that “subsidising a technology which has been around for several decades, and is unprofitable once you take into account all the costs, goes against the basic logic of European law regarding state aid.”

EDF has said that the Hinkley Point C project are durable because they are “fair and balanced” and that they were approved by the European Commission “following a robust and lengthy investigation”.

The case has the potential to delay a final investment decision by the UK government for over two years.