British Energy H1 output falls

LONDON (Reuters) - Nuclear power operator British Energy said its power output in the first half fell against the same period last year due to repairs at two of its UK nuclear stations, although it met management expectations.

The group, which has agreed to a 12.5 billion pounds tie-up with France's state-owned power group EDF, said total output during the six months to September 28 was 22.7 terawatt hours (TWh), of which 19.2 TWh was nuclear generated and 3.5 TWh came from the group's coal-fired Eggborough power station in northern England.

That compared with 30.7 TWh in the same period last year, of which 27.8 TWh came from nuclear and 2.9 TWh from coal.

British Energy owns and runs the UK's eight nuclear power stations.

In August, British Energy attributed the fall in nuclear output against a year ago mainly to the ongoing impact of repairs to reactor cooling systems at its Hartlepool station in north east England and its Heysham 1 reactor in north west England.

The group has said it expects the stations, out of action since last autumn, to return to service sometime between October and December.

By 8:22 a.m., shares in British Energy had risen by 0.2 percent, or 1.5 pence, to 751.5 p.

(Reporting by Philip Waller; editing by Sue Thomas)