Latest news with #AlisonDownes
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sizewell C nuclear plant gets £14bn go-ahead from government
The government has committed £14.2bn of investment to build the new Sizewell C nuclear plant on the Suffolk coastline, ahead of the Spending Review. It will create 10,000 direct jobs, thousands more in firms supplying the plant and generate enough energy to power six million homes, the Treasury said. Chancellor Rachel Reeves said it was a "landmark decision" that would kickstart "economic growth". However, Alison Downes, director of pressure group Stop Sizewell C, condemned the announcement, adding it was a move the government would "come to regret". Reeves said the project would be the "biggest nuclear building programme in a generation". Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said nuclear energy would "deliver a golden age of clean energy abundance" and help boost the UK's energy security. The government insists that nuclear power provides enormous amounts of low carbon, non-intermittent energy that forms a crucial part of the UK's energy future. However, Sizewell C will take at least a decade to complete and the plant of which it is a copy, Hinkley Point C in Somerset, will switch on in the early 2030s - more than a decade late and costing billions more than originally planned. The final investment decision on the funding model for the plant is due later this summer. The Sizewell C project has faced opposition at local and national level from those who think it will prove to be a costly mistake. Ms Downes said she believed the money could be spent on other priorities and feared the project would "add to consumer bills". "There still appears to be no final investment decision for Sizewell C, but £14.2bn in taxpayers' funding, a decision we condemn and firmly believe the government will come to regret," she said. "Ministers have still not come clean about Sizewell C's cost and, given negotiations with private investors are incomplete, they have signed away all leverage and will be forced to offer generous deals that undermine value for money." On Saturday about 300 protesters demonstrated on Sizewell beach against the project. The Sizewell C investment is the latest in a series of announcements in the run-up to the government's Spending Review, which will be unveiled on Wednesday. The review will see the chancellor set out day-to-day spending and investment plans for each government department. A number of policies have already been announced, including the U-turn on winter fuel payments, a commitment to increase defence spending, and investment in the science and technology sector. Spending Review: When is it and what might Rachel Reeves announce? Sizewell C has had other pots of funding confirmed over the years by government and in September 2023 a formal process to raise private investment was opened. Ministers and EDF have previously said there were plenty of potential investors and they were close to finalising an agreement on it. Once operational, Sizewell C is expected to employ 900 people. As well as Sizewell C, the government said it was investing £2.5bn over five years into research and development for fusion energy and making investments into its defence nuclear sector. This included development of HMNB Clyde and investment in Sheffield Forgemasters. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Sizewell C boss 'optimistic' it will get go-ahead Sizewell C announces plan to build post-16 college 'Nothing prepared us for Sizewell C devastation' EDF reject claims Sizewell C will cost £40bn Sizewell C Stop Sizewell C Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
BBC News
7 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Sizewell C nuclear plant gets £14.2bn government investment
The government has committed £14.2bn of investment to build the new Sizewell C nuclear plant on the Suffolk coastline, ahead of the Spending will create 10,000 direct jobs, thousands more in firms supplying the plant and generate enough energy to power six million homes, the Treasury Rachel Reeves said it was a "landmark decision" that would kickstart "economic growth". However, Alison Downes, director of pressure group Stop Sizewell C, condemned the announcement, adding it was a move the government would "come to regret". Reeves said the project would be the "biggest nuclear building programme in a generation".Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said nuclear energy would "deliver a golden age of clean energy abundance" and help boost the UK's energy government insists that nuclear power provides enormous amounts of low carbon, non-intermittent energy that forms a crucial part of the UK's energy Sizewell C will take at least a decade to complete and the plant of which it is a copy, Hinkley Point C in Somerset, will switch on in the early 2030s - more than a decade late and costing billions more than originally planned. The final investment decision on the funding model for the plant is due later this Sizewell C project has faced opposition at local and national level from those who think it will prove to be a costly Downes said she believed the money could be spent on other priorities and feared the project would "add to consumer bills"."There still appears to be no final investment decision for Sizewell C, but £14.2bn in taxpayers' funding, a decision we condemn and firmly believe the government will come to regret," she said."Ministers have still not come clean about Sizewell C's cost and, given negotiations with private investors are incomplete, they have signed away all leverage and will be forced to offer generous deals that undermine value for money."On Saturday about 300 protesters demonstrated on Sizewell beach against the project. The Sizewell C investment is the latest in a series of announcements in the run-up to the government's Spending Review, which will be unveiled on review will see the chancellor set out day-to-day spending and investment plans for each government department.A number of policies have already been announced, including the U-turn on winter fuel payments, a commitment to increase defence spending, and investment in the science and technology sector. Sizewell C has had other pots of funding confirmed over the years by government and in September 2023 a formal process to raise private investment was and EDF have previously said there were plenty of potential investors and they were close to finalising an agreement on operational, Sizewell C is expected to employ 900 well as Sizewell C, the government said it was investing £2.5bn over five years into research and development for fusion energy and making investments into its defence nuclear included development of HMNB Clyde and investment in Sheffield Forgemasters. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Rachel Reeves to sign off funding for Sizewell C nuclear power plant - 43 years after it was proposed
will tomorrow sign off funding for the Sizewell C nuclear power plant – more than 40 years after it was proposed. The Chancellor will announce £14.2billion to pay for a new reactor at the site in Suffolk, with the plant eventually powering 6million homes. The funding will be included in her comprehensive spending review, which was finalised last night after a bitter row with Yvette Cooper over police funding ended with the Home Secretary having to accept the Treasury's terms. Sizewell C was first proposed in 1982 and, after years of paralysis, was given the green light by the Tories in 2022. Ms Reeves will also confirm a £2.5billion investment in nuclear fusion research, while government sources said ministers would press ahead with proposals for 'mini' nuclear plants around the country. The Treasury said the funding would help create 10,000 new jobs. The last time Britain completed a new nuclear plant was in 1987, which was Sizewell B. Hinkley Point C, in Somerset, is under construction but not expected to open until 2031. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said last night: 'We need new nuclear to deliver a golden age of clean energy.' But Alison Downes, of the Stop Sizewell C group, said the plant was a 'white elephant'. The Prime Minister's spokesman said: 'The review is settled. We will be focused on investing in Britain's renewal so that all working people are better off.'
ITV News
3 days ago
- Politics
- ITV News
Protesters raise environmental fears as wait continues for Sizewell C funding announcement
Hundreds of people voiced their concerns over the multi-billion pound Sizewell C nuclear power station on the Suffolk coastline ahead of an expected announcement from the Government. The rally on Sizewell Beach on Saturday, organised by Stop Sizewell C and Together Against Sizewell C, included speeches from campaigners against the major project including Greenpeace members, and musical performances. The peaceful protest ended with the 300-strong crowd walking to the Sizewell complex and tying ribbons with messages, emphasising people's concerns, to the gates. Plans for Sizewell C were given the go ahead by the then Chancellor in November 2022 but the funding is yet to be approved by the Government, although an announcement on the project is expected in Labour's Spending Review on Wednesday 11 June. Construction has already started for the nuclear site and surrounding infrastructure on the Suffolk coast which will sit next to the Sizewell B plant, and has already been given £250m in local funding. Once it is operational, it is expected to contribute £40m a year to the local economy and employ 900 people in skilled jobs, according to a Sizewell C spokesperson. But many people fear the environmental impact of Sizewell C and believe it will destroy the area. Jenny Kirtley, from Together Against Sizewell C, said: "You've only got to look around the area and see the devastation that's happened. I've been fighting this for 12 years. We knew it would be bad but we didn't know it would be so devastating. I mean a whole area is changing before our very eyes and it's heartbreaking. "There are a huge mountains of earth everywhere and of course the wildlife is suffering. The deers don't know where to go. They're rambling around everywhere. The birds are leaving their nests. "It's all very well saying it's going to create thousands of jobs but who's going to work in the supermarkets the care homes the restaurants you know this is a small area. "We've got six thousand people living around here so where are people going to live? We know rents are going sky high so it's going to get worse and it's going to be a real problem." Alison Downes, from Stop Sizewell C, also believed the project would be a waste of tax-payers money and there were better options to provide renewable energy. She said: "We've always had people behind us in the local area. I think a lot of new people have woken up and seen the destruction that's been caused by the project. They are now feeling the same the same sense of outrage that we do. "Sizewell C is too slow, risky and expensive to be the solution to our climate urgency. This is the wrong type of reactor. It's in the wrong place on an eroding coastline so we are here to express our outrage about size we see." The outrage rally, which was the third of it's kind, was also a tribute to Pete Wilkinson - a former chairman of Together Against Sizewell C, who died in January 2025. His daughters Emily and Amy Wilkinson, were at the event and spoke about their father and the rally. Emily Wilkinson, 29, said: "Dad was such a fantastic human being. He was a passionate and courageous man who spent his entire life fighting whatever he saw is wrong. That's what drove him in life. He saw the beauty in the planet and fought for it every single time." The Government said Sizewell C would be "an important role in helping the UK achieve energy security and net zero, while securing thousands of good, skilled jobs and supporting our energy independence beyond 2030". A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: "Nuclear power has the potential to boost our supply of secure homegrown power and generate major investment nationwide.
BBC News
11-02-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Suffolk's Sizewell C groundwork under way but funding not agreed
Groundwork for a new nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast is well under way, but the funding needed to build it has still not been agreed. French company EDF said it was confident a final investment decision on Sizewell C would be made this summer. Meanwhile, the cost of its sister project, Hinkley Point C in Somerset, has risen to as high as £ have likened Sizewell C to the beleaguered HS2 rail project and said the government should pull out before it is too what is the state of play? In east Suffolk, signs of development are hard to of trees have been felled, and huge swathes of land stretching from the outskirts of Leiston to the coast have been cleared for a new construction compound and access road to the Sizewell C site. Elsewhere, land is being dug up for a new link road off the A12, a new bypass around the villages of Stratford St Andrew and Farnham, and two park-and-ride sites at Wickham Market and Darsham. The groundwork started a year ago. The twin reactors would generate 3.2 GW of electricity, sufficient to power six million homes. So far the UK government, which has an 85% stake in the project, has pledged £5.5bn towards development work. Last month, EDF denied reports that the total cost of the project had risen to over £40bn, up from an estimated £20bn in is seeking investors and the government said a final investment decision would be made in June. 'It's all gone' David Grant's farm at Middleton, near Leiston, has been cut in two by the new Sizewell link road and an access road to the said he had lost 38 acres (15 hectares) of arable land. "Nothing prepared us for the devastation caused," he said."It's all gone, dug out with machines completely ruthlessly and without any sympathy. "I think this is HS2, but bigger, frankly."I've got friends who were involved in the HS2 cancellation and they haven't even been able to repurchase their land. Luckily we have the option to repurchase if this doesn't go ahead." 'Every penny they spend is a penny lost' Opponents of Sizewell C still argue the project should be scrapped before it is too late. Alison Downes, from Stop Sizewell C, said: "The taxpayer is being forced to pay for what is basically a bet that this project is a good idea and should go ahead. "The possibility that Sizewell C could go ahead at whatever price is just completely inconceivable."Every penny they spend on Sizewell C is a penny lost to cheaper, quicker renewable energy projects that could get us to net zero more quickly and address our climate crisis." 'It's nothing like HS2' EDF said it was confident about the cost of building Sizewell C and that there was no comparison with HS2. Julia Pyke, joint managing director of Sizewell C, said: "We're not going to give a cost estimate for Sizewell C because we are in the middle of negotiations both with suppliers on the one hand, and with investors on the other hand. "It's nothing like HS2. We are building a copy of something that has gone through UK design approvals."We are starting off with an approved design, an experienced supply chain and an experienced workforce." Nigel Cann, also joint managing director of Sizewell C, said groundwork away from the nuclear site was a priority. "The important thing for us is to get the offsite infrastructure for roads and rail done as quickly as possible so that we minimise the disruption to the local community," he said."We're also starting to build the sea defence. We expect to start building the big wall around the deep excavation for the reactors in September this year." Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
