UK Approves $51 Billion Nuclear Plant

Authored by Evgenia Flimianova via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The UK government gave the final go-ahead on Monday for the Sizewell C nuclear power plant to be built in eastern England after securing investment from Canadian pension fund La Caisse, Centrica, and Amber Infrastructure.

EDF Energy’s Sizewell B nuclear power station, in Sizewell, England, on Sept. 1, 2022. Chris Radburn/AFP via Getty Images

Sizewell C in Suffolk will be the UK’s second new nuclear plant in more than two decades, following the government’s 2013 deal with EDF to build Hinkley Point C in Somerset, which is now expected to come online in 2029 after years of delays and cost overruns.

The state will be the largest shareholder in the Sizewell C project with a 44.9 percent stake. La Caisse will hold 20 percent, energy firm Centrica 15 percent, and London-based Amber Infrastructure will take an initial 7.6 percent, joining France’s state-owned EDF, which had already announced its 12.5 percent stake.

The new plant will be the third nuclear station at the Sizewell site, following Sizewell A and B, both of which are being decommissioned.

Sizewell C was initially proposed in the early 2010s as a joint project between EDF and China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN). The UK government removed Chinese involvement in 2022, buying out CGN’s stake due to national security concerns.

The plant is expected to deliver clean power to the equivalent of 6 million homes and create up to 10,000 jobs at the peak of construction, the government said.

It also estimates the plant could save the UK electricity system around 2 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) per year on average, once operational.

“This government is making the investment needed to deliver a new golden age of nuclear, so we can end delays and free us from the ravages of the global fossil fuel markets to bring bills down for good,” Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said.

Funding, Overruns

The government said Sizewell C will be financed using a regulated asset base (RAB) model, allowing developers to recover certain development costs before construction begins.

These costs may include setting up the project company, preparing the supply chain, and conducting site investigations.

UK ministers said the project has secured more financing than the estimated 38 billion pound ($51 billion) construction cost, providing a buffer against overruns. The funding model encourages cost control by making investors, not taxpayers, bear the risk of budget overruns, the government said.

Alongside the agreed private investment, the National Wealth Fund—the government’s principal investor and policy bank—will provide most of the project’s debt financing, working with France’s Bpifrance Assurance Export to support construction of the plant.

Quebec-based global investment group La Caisse, which operates Canada’s second-largest pension fund, said it was investing up to 1.7 billion pounds ($2.3 billion) in the project.

“Our investment demonstrates our confidence in the UK market, our largest destination outside North America, and aligns with our commitment to the energy transition and decarbonization, enabled by our long-term capital and active ownership” La Caisse’s Head of Infrastructure Emmanuel Jaclot said in a July 22 statement.

Centrica said in a statement it had committed construction funding of 1.3 billion pounds ($1.7 billion).

“This isn’t just an investment in a new power station, it’s an investment in Britain’s energy independence, our net zero journey, and thousands of high-quality jobs across the country,” Centrica Group Chief Executive Chris O’Shea said on Tuesday.

France’s EDF said the project will support the French nuclear industry by involving about 40 French suppliers and lowering costs for future EPR2 reactors, the next-generation evolution of the European Pressurized Reactor design.

EPR2 is central to France’s plan to build at least six new reactors by 2050, as announced by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2022.

Global Nuclear Revival Gains Momentum

Britain’s Sizewell C decision comes amid a broader global nuclear revival, as countries seek to strengthen energy security, meet climate goals, and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

In the United States, tech giants such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Google have signed long-term nuclear energy deals to power data centers. Last year, Microsoft entered a 20-year power purchase agreement to reopen Pennsylvania’s closed Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear power plant.

The war in Ukraine and efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 returned nuclear energy to the European Union’s policy agenda. That includes the creation of the European Nuclear Alliance in 2023 to promote nuclear power as part of the bloc’s climate strategy, along with calls from EU leaders for the region to produce more of its own nuclear energy.

In Japan, utility giant Kansai Electric Power Co. announced on Tuesday that it is considering building the country’s first new nuclear reactor since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

The company has resumed surveys for a potential project at its Mihama Nuclear Power Plant site.