Sizewell C nuclear plant secures final go‑ahead
Under the deal, the British state will be the largest shareholder in the project with a 44.9% stake, La Caisse will hold 20%, UK energy firm Centrica 15% and London-headquartered Amber Infrastructure will take an initial 7.6%, joining France's state-owned EDF, which had already announced its 12.5% stake.
Britain needs to build new nuclear plants to replace its ageing fleet, boost energy security, reach its climate targets and create new jobs.
"Delivering next generation, publicly-owned clean power is vital to our energy security and growth," Finance Minister Rachel Reeves said in a statement.
The announcement of La Caisse as the second biggest shareholder comes as a surprise after months of speculation that Canadian investor Brookfield was in pole position to invest.
Sizewell will be only the second new nuclear plant built in Britain in more than two decades, after French state-owned EDF's Hinkley Point C. That has been beset by delays and cost overruns, and is not due to start operating until about 2030.
First proposed in the early 2010s, Sizewell C was originally going to be developed by EDF with China General Nuclear Power Group, but the UK government bought out the Chinese firm's stake in 2022 amid security concerns.
France's EDF has said it is investing around 1.1 billion pounds in Sizewell, while Centrica said in its statement it had committed to construction funding of 1.3 billion pounds.
The government statement said Britain's National Wealth Fund would provide the majority of the debt finance for the project, alongside a debt guarantee from France's export credit agency, Bpifrance Assurance Export.
($1 = 0.7424 pounds)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
7 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Trump, Carney to speak in coming days, Canadian official says
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will likely talk 'over the next number of days' after the U.S. imposed a 35% tariff on goods not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, a Canadian official said on Sunday. Dominic LeBlanc, the federal cabinet minister in charge of U.S.-Canada trade, also told CBS News' 'Face the Nation' that he was 'encouraged' by recent discussions and believed a deal to bring down tariffs remained an option. 'We're encouraged by the conversations with Secretary Lutnick and Ambassador Greer, but we're not yet where we need to go to get the deal that's in the best interest of the two economies,' LeBlanc said, referring to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. The trade minister said he expected Carney and Trump to speak 'over the next number of days.' 'We think there is an option of striking a deal that will bring down some of these tariffs provide greater certainty to investment,' LeBlanc said. Washington linked Friday's tariff announcement in part to what it said was Canada's failure to stop fentanyl smuggling. It was the latest blow in a months-long tariff war which Trump initiated shortly after returning to power this year. Carney says Canada accounts for just 1% of U.S. fentanyl imports and has been working intensively to further reduce the volumes.
Express Tribune
11 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Giorgio Armani fined for labour violations
Italy's antitrust regulator has fined fashion group Giorgio Armani and one of its units 3.5 million euros (USD4 million) for alleged unfair commercial practices, it said on Friday. The Giorgio Armani group rejected the accusation and said it would appeal. The regulator said in a statement that the two companies "issued misleading ethical and social responsibility statements in contrast with the actual working conditions found at suppliers and subcontractors". It added that Armani outsourced most of its bag and leather accessory production to these third parties. The authority said that although the group emphasised its attention to sustainability — using it as a marketing instrument — the external suppliers, in turn, subcontracted to other producers, which in some cases employed workers illegally and in poor health and safety conditions. The issue already came up last year with Italian prosecutors, who placed one of Armani's units under judicial administration, a measure which was then lifted in February. In a statement the Giorgio Armani group expressed "disappointment and bitterness" at the regulator's decision, adding it would appeal it before an Italian regional administrative court. "(The group) always operated with the utmost fairness and transparency towards consumers, the market, and stakeholders, as demonstrated by the Group's history," it added. Last year the competition authority opened a similar investigation into LVMH-owned Dior to assess whether it had misled consumers. The French brand agreed on a number of remedies in May to settle the probe, considered by the regulator as appropriate and enough to avoid any sanctions. Earlier this year also cashmere king Loro Piana and a unit of luxury brand Valentino were put under judicial administration in Italy over worker abuses in supply chains.
Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Business Recorder
US natural gas lower
NEW YORK: US natural gas futures fell on Friday on forecasts for less hot weather in the coming weeks than previously expected, which should reduce demand for the fuel. Front-month gas futures for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled 0.7% lower at $3.08 per million British thermal units. 'The weather pattern for the immediate near term isn't as bullish as we have seen for the past few weeks. This will result in lower power burn demand which is a factor the market has been dealing with for the last few sessions,' said Robert DiDona, president of Energy Ventures Analysis. Financial firm LSEG estimated 235 cooling degree days over the next two weeks. CDDs, used to estimate demand to cool homes and businesses, measure the number of degrees a day's average temperature is above 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18.3 degrees Celsius).
