The board of France's EDF, which runs the country's nuclear power industry, is expected to meet today to finalise a possible takeover offer for British Energy ahead of Friday's deadline.

According to several sources, there is unlikely "at this stage" to be a role for Centrica, the UK power company which is keen to be part of a bid consortium for BE.

EDF is seen as the front-runner to buy BE, which runs eight UK nuclear reactors, because of its expertise and financial firepower. It is understood that today's board meeting will focus on a possible bid of £9bn-£10bn for BE, including the Government's 35pc stake.

EDF is looking at bidding on its own, or not bidding at all," said one financial adviser. "I'm sure Centrica will be discussed, but if it has a role to play it will be at a later stage."

The Government is committed to building a new generation of reactors, and whoever buys BE will have a leading role in new-nuclear.

Centrica could still team up with Germany's RWE, which has already put in an indicative bid of 700p a share, valuing BE at just over £11bn. However, RWE's shareholders have warned the company against over-paying and the offer is now thought to be off the table.

BE shares continued to fall yesterday, down 11p to 717.5p, as hopes of a bid battle began to wane.

One analyst said yesterday: "Whenever you talk to EDF about a BE offer, they go on and on about maintaining 'price discipline'. They are going to come in low, and it wouldn't surprise me if theirs was the only offer."