Chinese firm prepares bid for coal-fired power station CGNPC and another Chinese nuclear group, China National Nuclear Corporation, will together take a stake totalling between 30pc and 40pc in Hinkley Point. George Osborne, the Chancellor, has agreed that Chinese groups could eventually take majority stakes or even 100pc ownership of future UK nuclear plants. CGNPC is thought to view both Hinkley and the potential Eggborough acquisition as footholds in the UK energy sector to help achieve its longer-term nuclear ambitions. Other groups bidding for Eggborough include the Philippines-based Manila Electric Co. The plant's current owners are developing plans to convert three of its four units to burn biomass not coal, with a capacity of 1.35GW and at a cost of at least £400m. Converting all four would cost more than £500m. Last week it emerged Eggborough was one of the projects that had pre-qualified to share in £40bn of infrastructure loan guarantees from the Treasury. If the plant is converted to run on biomass, it will also be eligible for a long-term subsidy contract from the Government to guarantee its revenues. The current owners are thought to be frustrated at the slow pace of securing both the loan guarantee and the subsidies for the conversion to go ahead. The Labour Party has attacked the Government for not handing out the promised loan guarantees more quickly to stimulate infrastructure investment. Sources suggest that without biomass conversion Eggborough would be unlikely to survive economically beyond the winter of 2015-16 at the latest. It will have a finite number of running hours under EU green directives and will also face rising costs because of Britain's unilateral carbon tax.