UK to pump £14b into new nuclear plant on path to net zero
The UK government Tuesday said it will invest billions of pounds in the new Sizewell C nuclear power plant as it strives to meet its net zero and energy security targets.
The £14.2 billion ($19 billion) investment will end "years of delay and uncertainty", the UK Treasury said in a press release, adding it would unlock a "golden age" of nuclear to "boost the UK's energy security".
The UK is the majority shareholder in the plant being built in eastern England, after Chinese company CGN left the project and the other partner, French energy giant EDF, scaled back its involvement.
The plant, which comprises two EPR nuclear reactors each with 1.6 gigawatts capacity, could cost a whopping total of £20-30 billion to build.
The sum could be even higher, according to some estimates which are disputed by the government and EDF, and it is not expected to start generating electricity until 2035.
"The government's decision to move ahead with Sizewell C is fantastic news for Britain, its energy security and economic growth," EDF Energy CEO Simone Rossi said.
The latest injection is part of budget announcements by Britain's finance minister Rachel Reeves, who is due to detail her spending and investment priorities for the coming years on Wednesday, with defence and health as key areas.
The UK is now the majority shareholder in Sizewell C, EDF said in January.
With a fleet of ageing nuclear power stations managed by the French energy company, the UK has refocused on shoring up nuclear power since the start of the war in Ukraine, in the name of energy security.
The Labour government, which took over from the Conservatives in July, is following the same line, and says it wants to implement "the biggest nuclear rollout program for a generation".
It also announced on Tuesday in its press release "record investment" in research and development into nuclear fusion of more than £2.5 billion over five years.
But the announcement has been met with anger by some local residents worried about the impact of the new plant on the local town of Leiston in Suffolk.
Nearby is also the single water pressurised Sizewell B nuclear power station which is currently is due to close in 2035, and Sizewell A which is in the process of being decommissioned.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
an hour ago
- The National
UK freezes £185m of properties linked to former Bangladeshi minister
The UK's National Crime Agency has frozen £185 million ($236 million) worth of properties linked to Bangladesh's former land minister, as the country's interim government seeks to recover the billions of dollars it claims were embezzled by the ousted Sheikh Hasina and her allies. The NCA said on Thursday that it had frozen 342 properties with a combined purchase price of about £185 million after it was granted orders by the High Court in London on June 5. 'We can confirm that the NCA has secured freezing orders against a number of properties as part of an on-going civil investigation,' the agency said. The properties are believed to be owned by or linked to Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, land minister of Bangladesh under Sheikh Hasina, agency and includes a high-end property in the St John's Wood area of North London, according to the Financial Times. 'We can confirm that the NCA has secured freezing orders against a number of properties as part of an ongoing civil investigation,' the agency said on Thursday. Freezing orders prevent a person from selling or disposing of an asset while an investigation is under way. Bangladesh's interim leader Mohammed Yunus is on his first official visit to the UK this week, where he reiterated his pledge to track down money he alleges was stolen by the former Sheikh Hasina government. Mr Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work on micro-financing, met with King Charles III on Thursday before receiving the King's Harmony Awards. He also met the UK's National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell on Wednesday, while his anti-corruption chief, Ahsan Mansur met the NCA. Mr Yunus said on Wednesday that Bangladesh had a 'historical' opportunity to 'clean' its institutions and combat corruption. The interim government accused Sheikh Hasina's former regime of siphoning $234 billion between 2003 and 2019 in a white paper published late last year. Mr Yunus said that so far overseas governments, including the European Union had been 'extremely supportive' of the efforts. 'Bangladesh is just deep into corruption. Every system is corrupt. People are corrupt. So how to clean it up? What kind of changes do we have to make to make the government clean?' he said, speaking at foreign affairs think tank Chatham House. 'There is a formula, there is a policy, there is a way to do that.' The government was preparing a 'big package' of reforms dubbed the July Charter, which would be drafted by a government 'consensus building commission' that seeks to find common ground among Bangladesh's political parties. 'They're responsibility is to … find out which recommendations all parties accept. That is a tough job for Bangladeshi politicians to agree on something,' he said. He rejected suggestions that such a process was taking away the democratic element and trusting voters to pick the ideas. 'Voters can watch the debate, it's on the newspaper every day. Our aim to get those recommendations, put it in a separate piece of paper. Then all the parties sign the paper,' he said. Last month, Bangladesh reached a deal with the International Monetary Fund, in which Dhaka would get $1.3 billion in June after agreeing to key exchange rate reforms. IMF pressed for greater exchange rate flexibility, particularly the adoption of a crawling peg mechanism. The country was pulling through its deep economic crisis thanks to remittances from migrants in the UK and Middle, Mr Yunus added. The interim government had 'huge bills to pay' which were currently being covered by deposits from Bangladeshis abroad who send money back home. 'We have to make payments for all those people who are knocking at the door with the big checks, big bills that we have to pay, otherwise we're going to the court, which is not good for us,' he said speaking at Chatham House on Wednesday during a 4 day official visit. The banking system had 'collapsed' and foreign reserves were 'empty', he added. 'The best thing that happened to us the overseas Bangladeshis, many of them are here in London, in England and so on and Middle East. They kept sending remittance, a huge amount of remittances, and that saved us,' he said. 'Remittances keep growing, keep growing, keep growing. Today, our balance of payment situation is completely changed,' he said. Earlier this year, Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, resigned from her role as a Treasury minister charged with combatting corruption, after she was named in two Bangladeshi investigations into Sheikh Hasina's assets. The former leader of Bangladesh is Ms Siddiq's aunt, though an investigation by the UK Prime Minister's Standards Adviser Sir Laurie Magnus found no 'evidence of improprieties' on Ms Siddiq's part.
Zawya
an hour ago
- Zawya
Copper edges up on dollar weakness, but clouds loom over demand outlook
Copper prices nudged higher on Thursday, aided by a weaker dollar, but persistent concerns over demand and unresolved trade tensions continued to cloud the market's outlook. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.5% at $9,694 a metric ton by 1400 GMT, having gained more than a fifth since touching the lowest since November 2023 in April at $8,105. The dollar index slid to its lowest in over three years following U.S. data, making greenback-priced metals more affordable for buyers using other currencies. "Some support is coming from the weaker dollar. But more broadly, uncertainty around trade negotiations continues to pressure cyclical assets like copper," said Nitesh Shah, commodities strategist at WisdomTree. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would be willing to extend a July 8 deadline for completing trade talks, but added the U.S. would send out letters in coming weeks specifying the terms of trade deals to dozens of other countries, which they could then embrace or reject. UBS said in a note that on the demand side, the latest manufacturing PMIs from China, Europe and the U.S. all remain in contraction territory, highlighting the drag from the ongoing tariff situation. "Weak PMI readings suggest that final copper demand should be subdued. That said, some front-loading of demand ahead of U.S. tariffs has supported copper consumption, and U.S. imports have tightened the market outside of the U.S.," the note added. In February, Washington launched an investigation into U.S. copper imports, pushing COMEX prices to a notable premium over LME. Seizing the opportunity, traders have redirected copper flows toward the U.S. from other regions. U.S. COMEX copper futures added 0.1% to $4.82 a lb, bringing the premium over LME copper to $933 a ton. On the supply front, Ivanhoe Mines said on Wednesday that it had resumed underground operations at a section of its Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), previously halted due to seismic activity. However, the company lowered its production guidance for the year. "Downgrades to production estimates — particularly from the DRC — are weighing on the supply outlook. From our perspective, the market is heading toward a supply deficit by year-end," added Shah. LME aluminium and tin were little changed at $2,516.50 and $32,660 a ton respectively, zinc eased 0.6% to $2,638, nickel dipped 0.2% to $15,150 while lead gained 0.5% to $1,996.50. (Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan Harvey, Susan Fenton and Elaine Hardcastle)
Zawya
2 hours ago
- Zawya
Kumulus Water raises $3.5mln to redefine clean water access with off-grid tech in MENA and Europe
MENA – Kumulus Water, the WaterTech startup transforming air into clean drinking water, has successfully raised $3.5 million in seed funding. The round was led by Bpifrance via France 2030 SGPI and the Île-de-France Region, and included participation from other international regional and investors, such as Plus VC, MENA's most active VC, Khalys Venture, Flat6Labs, Europe's leading bottled water group Spadel, and several family offices and founders from Europe and North Africa. This strategic investment marks a major step in Kumulus' mission to provide decentralized, sustainable drinking water in regions facing water scarcity or lacking reliable infrastructure. Founded in 2021 by Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid, Kumulus designs and manufactures atmospheric water generators that extract safe drinking water from air humidity, without requiring any existing water or electricity infrastructure. The company's systems are currently in use in schools, hotels, and remote communities across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. 'We're deeply grateful to our existing and new investors for their trust and continued support,' said Iheb Triki, CEO and Co-founder of Kumulus Water. 'Their involvement is a strong vote of confidence in our technology and our vision. At Kumulus, we believe access to clean drinking water should not depend on existing infrastructure. With this funding, we're taking a major step toward making clean water accessible, sustainable, and decentralized—especially for the communities that need it most.' With this new funding, Kumulus will launch the Kumulus Boks, a new line of industrial-grade, cutting-edge Atmospheric Water Generators (AWG), that provide clean drinking water directly from air humidity, while scaling operations in Tunisia, France, Spain and preparing market entry into Saudi Arabia. Commenting on the fundraising announcement, Hasan Haider, Founder and Managing Partner at +VC said: 'Kumulus is building a scalable, climate-resilient solution to one of the most critical regional and global challenges-access to clean drinking water. At +VC, we invest in founders who are not only mission-driven, solving real-world problems but also executing with commercially scalable solutions. Kumulus fits that profile and is well-positioned for both regional and global growth. We're excited to support their journey as they scale meaningful impact, making them stand out in the climate-tech space.' 'We believe the world needs complementary solutions to address the growing challenge of drinking water scarcity,' added Clément Yvorra, Global Business Development Manager at Spadel. 'What convinced us is Kumulus' ability to produce water locally, without packaging or transportation, offering a truly sustainable alternative.' 'This funding allows us to scale not just production, but impact,' said Mohamed Ali Abid, Co-founder and CTO of Kumulus Water. 'We have spent the past few years refining a technology that can operate reliably in some of the harshest and most water-stressed environments. Now, we are ready to deploy it at scale and bring truly off-grid, sustainable water access to more communities across the region and beyond.' As climate change intensifies and water scarcity deepens, Kumulus offers a resilient, infrastructure-free solution that delivers safe drinking water to even the most remote and arid regions, building not just machines, but long-term climate resilience and empowered communities. Kumulus Water is redefining how clean water is delivered—turning air into drinking water without infrastructure, plastic waste, or grid dependency. By deploying off-grid atmospheric water generators, Kumulus provides a sustainable, decentralized solution for communities facing limited or unreliable access to clean water. About Kumulus Water Kumulus Water is a Paris-based climate-tech startup building atmospheric water generators (AWGs) that transform air into safe, clean drinking water. Designed to operate off-grid and without infrastructure, Kumulus machines are already serving schools, hotels, and communities across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. For press inquiries, please contact: Neena Punnen neena@ OR For press inquiries, partnership opportunities, please contact: contact@
