Eggborough power station Generating Board. The station became the property of National Power on privatisation of the industry in 1990. British Energy bought Eggborough Power Station, as its only coal-fired power station, in 2000 to provide a more flexible power production facility alongside its nuclear power stations to reduce penalty charge risks from the New Electricity Trading Arrangements introduced in March 2001. The purchase of Eggborough occurred at the peak of the market for power stations, and in 2002 the value of the station was written down by half. At the beginning of 2009, Électricité de France (EDF) purchased British Energy. In August
Hugo Drax the Drax of the novel, he is implied to be French (as he was portrayed by French actor Michael Lonsdale), although this is never explicitly mentioned. Though Drax lives in California, he resides in a fully imported French château for which "every stone [was] brought from France" – Drax also supposedly owns the Eiffel Tower, but wasn't allowed to export it from France in a similar manner because the French government wouldn't issue him an export permit for it. Drax portrays himself as an accomplished pianist, as evidenced by his recital of Chopin's "Raindrop" Prelude in D-flat major (op. 28)