UK invests GBP 14.2bn in nuclear power plant

Fifteen years since the Sizewell C nuclear power plant was proposed, the UK government has announced that it will commit to invest GBP 14.2bn in the power plant, according to several UK media outlets, including Sky and The Guardian.

According to the media, the funding will be confirmed on Wednesday, when the UK ministries’ budgets up to 2029 will be presented.

Speaking to Sky, energy minister Ed Miliband calls it a “golden age” for investment in nuclear power.

“I’m doing this because of my belief that climate change is the biggest long-term threat facing us,” says Miliband according to The Guardian:

”The truth is that we have this massive challenge to get off fossil fuels. That is the central driving ambition of the government’s clean energy superpower mission. We know that we’re going to have to see electricity demand at least double, by 2050.”

According to media reports, Sizewell C could power six million homes.

Sizewell C was originally proposed by French energy company EDF and China General Nuclear Power Group, but in 2022 the conservative government bought out the Chinese company and the state now owns 83.5% of the project together with EDF.

Construction is expected to take between nine and 12 years, with the green light to start construction given in January 2024.

At the budget presentation last fall, Reeves announced a GBP 2.7bn commitment to Sizewell C and said a final commitment would be announced in the 2025 spending review.

(English edit by Kristoffer Grønbæk)