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TimesLIVE
2 days ago
- Business
- TimesLIVE
Britain to invest £14.2bn in Sizewell C nuclear project
Britain will invest £14.2bn (R338.8bn) to build the Sizewell C nuclear plant in southeast England, the government said on Tuesday, as part of its wider spending review which will define its priorities over the next four years. Britain is seeking to build new nuclear plants to replace its ageing fleet to help boost its energy security and reach its climate targets. The Sizewell C plant in Suffolk is expected to create around 10,000 jobs during the peak of construction and produce enough electricity to power around 6-million homes when built. "We need new nuclear to deliver a golden age of clean energy abundance because that is the only way to protect family finances, take back control of our energy and tackle the climate crisis," Britain's energy minister Ed Miliband said. Britain has been seeking to bring new investors into the project but Tuesday's announcement did not mention any other parties. The government has not said how much the project is expected to cost in total or given a date for when it is expected to be completed. Sizewell is expected to use a regulated-asset-base (RAB) funding model where companies building new plants would be paid during the construction phase, cutting down their development risk and allowing them to secure cheaper financing. Critics of RAB said it will leave taxpayers liable for any cost over-runs and delays during construction and add costs to energy bills at a time when many people are struggling. It would be only the second new nuclear plant built in Britain in more than two decades, after French state-owned EDF's Hinkley Point C which has had several delays and cost overruns and is expected to start operations in 2029, with an estimated cost of between £31bn and £34bn at 2015 prices. Simone Rossi, CEO of EDF in the UK, welcomed the British government's decision to go ahead with Sizewell C and said: "It is also a vote of confidence in Hinkley Point C, which has restarted the UK nuclear industry and built the experience and skills that will benefit Sizewell C.' Sizewell C was originally an EDF project but is majority owned by the British government with EDF a minority shareholder. The UK government's stake was 83.8% and EDF's stake was 16.2% at the end of December, EDF financial results showed in February with EDF's stake expected to decrease after Tuesday's announcement. The project's developer last December told Reuters there were five investors involved in a bidding process.
The Sun
3 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
UK to pump £14 bn into new nuclear plant on path to net zero
LONDON: 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.
