EDF is to consider the sale of British Energy's sole coal-fired power station to clear competition hurdles.

The French energy company is understood to be confident that regulators in Brussels will approve the proposed £12.4 billion takeover of British Energy quickly without recourse to a lengthy Phase II inquiry, which could drag on until next spring. The European Commission is to consider the implications of the deal for competition in Britain's wholesale electricity markets this month.

Nevertheless, EDF is drawing up a list of possible remedies that could smooth the way for a deal that critics say could harm consumers by giving the French group a stranglehold over Britain's electricity markets.

These are understood to include offering to dispose of British Energy's coal-fired power station at Eggborough, North Yorkshire. The plant, near Leeds, was commissioned in 1966 and is one of the UK's biggest generators, making 1,960 megawatts of electricity.

EDF believes that offering to dispose of the plant or auction its generating capacity to other companies would avoid the need for a Phase II inquiry by settling fears that the deal could force up prices and harm consumers.

Ownership of large coal-fired plants gives energy companies greater control over wholesale pricing because, unlike nuclear plants, they have flexible generating capacity that can be adjusted to meet demand.

The sale of Eggborough by British Energy may be inevitable in any case, because, after a restructuring of the group in 2002, several bondholders were granted the right to buy the power station in 2010 for £187 million.

EDF could, however, offer to sell the station regardless of whether the bondholders decide to exercise that option. It could also offer to auction all the plant's capacity on an ongoing basis.

EDF wants to use the takeover of British Energy as a platform to build four new nuclear reactors on existing sites. As well as Eggborough, British Energy, the UK's largest generator, owns eight nuclear power stations producing up to 20 per cent of the country's electricity. EDF already owns two other large 2,000 megawatt coal-fired power stations in Britain — Cottam and West Burton, both near Retford, Nottinghamshire. It has a gas-fired station at Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire.

EDF has already offered to sell three other nuclear sites to rival developers — Wylfa, on Anglesey; Bradwell, in Essex; and either Heysham, Lancashire, or Dungeness, Kent — as part of a government-brokered agreement to ensure competition in the programme to build nuclear plants.

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