Troubled nuclear power group British Energy, which employs 500 people at Hartlepool power station, was today facing a make-or-break day in its battle to stay out of administration. The Government has already warned it will push the supplier of one-fifth of the UK's electricity needs into the hands of administrators KPMG if a long-awaited restructuring is not completed. Creditors are being asked to back a plan that will leave bondholders and banks owning the business and shareholders with less than 5pc of the company. The deadline passes today although East Kilbride-based British Energy voiced confidence at the weekend that a solution over the £1.3bn debt can be found. Analysts believe the generator's massive nuclear liabilities would mean a return to some form of Government ownership would be inevitable if a deal with creditors is not reached. The company was only kept afloat last year by a £650m Government loan, which it has since repaid, after being pushed to the brink of bankruptcy. A further £200m loan is now in place while its long-term future is sorted out. British Energy has blamed its problems on the high fixed costs of nuclear generation and a steep decline in wholesale electricity prices. In June, it announced losses of £4.3bn after slashing the value of its power plants and warning it could yet fall into insolvency. The company cut the book value of its eight UK nuclear plants by £3.6bn to around £800m and the Eggborough coal-fired station by £151m. Other plants are at Hinkley Point, Somerset; Hunterston, Ayrshire; Dungeness, Kent; two at Heysham, Lancashire; Torness, East Lothian; and Sizewell, Suffolk. Earlier this month it said it had agreed to sell its 50pc stake in AmerGen Energy for £174m. The group said it would offload the interest to FPL Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of US-listed FPL Group. It said it would use the proceeds of the sale to repay cash made available to the company under the terms of the Department of Trade and Industry credit facility. The deal was one of the conditions of the proposed restructuring of the company agreed with its creditors and the DTI in February. | 
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