Sizewell C nuclear plant go-ahead confirmed with £700m public stake

The UK government has confirmed the go-ahead for the new Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk, backing the programme with a £700 million ($842 million) stake.

The move, which ministers said would create 10,000 highly skilled jobs and provide reliable, low-carbon power to the equivalent of six million homes for five decades, is the first state backing of a nuclear project in more than 30 years.

The government also said it would set up an arms-length body, Great British Nuclear, which would develop a pipeline of nuclear projects beyond Sizewell C.

The plant in Suffolk, developed by French energy company EDF, will be the second of a new generation of nuclear power reactors, after the delayed Hinkley Point C programme in Somerset, which is under construction but has had costs climb since it was first given the go-ahead.

EDF’s chief executive Simone Rossi said replicating Hinkley Point C’s design at Sizewell would provide more certainty over schedule and costs.

“It will deliver another big boost to jobs and skills in the nuclear industry and provide huge new opportunities for communities in Suffolk,” she said.

The announcement comes after ministers also set out plans to reduce energy demand by 15 per cent by 2030, with a new £1 billion Eco+ energy efficiency programme and a public awareness campaign, previously blocked under Liz Truss’s administration as being too “nanny state”, to help save energy this winter.

EDF's Hinkley Point C in south-west England is expected to come online in 2026 — the first new plant in more than 20 years. EDF has said Sizewell could cost 20 per cent less than Hinkley, which is currently budgeted at £25-£26 billion ($29.9-$30 billion).

It also comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing pressure, including from some Tory MPs, to make an about-turn on plans to keep the ban on onshore wind, one of the cheapest forms of energy.

Business and Energy Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Global gas prices are at record highs, caused by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s illegal march on Ukraine.

“We need more clean, affordable power generated within our borders — British energy for British homes.

“Today’s historic deal giving government backing to Sizewell C’s development is crucial to this, moving us towards greater energy independence and away from the risks that a reliance on volatile global energy markets for our supply comes with.”

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who announced the intention to push ahead with the project in the autumn statement, said the investment plans were the “biggest step on our journey to energy independence”.

He said that once the “mega project” is complete, it will power millions of homes with “clean, affordable, home-grown energy for decades to come”.

Downing Street on Tuesday declined to get into specific details about the exit of China General Nuclear from the project or the size of the buyout costs.

Asked if the government could rule out Chinese involvement in future nuclear energy projects, Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said: “I think we would need to make a judgment on what is right for the UK.”

He added that the government “certainly wouldn’t do anything that put UK security at risk and indeed our focus is on enhancing our energy independence”.

Later, Mr Shapps told the House of Commons that China has been “bought out of the deal on Sizewell and the money yesterday ensured that they are no longer involved in this particular development”.

But responding to a call from chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee Julian Lewis for ministers to confirm an end to “future dependency on China for our nuclear power stations”, Mr Shapps said: “We don’t have a principled objection apart from where issues of national security are concerned and things like energy provision are very much in our sights.”