The Sizewell C nuclear power plant will receive a government investment worth roughly £700mln, with a 50% stake in the project to be owned by the public.
Confirmation of government investment in the project – which was thought to be in doubt due to the cutting back signalled by the recent autumn statement – marks the first state backing of a UK nuclear project in over 30 years.
Visiting the site of the proposed nuclear power plant on Tuesday, business secretary Grant Shapps sealed the deal with the French company that is overseeing construction and will run the site, EDF Energy.
It is expected the plant, which will be a replication of EDF’s Hinkley Point C, will be able to power the equivalent of 6mln homes for around 50 years, but won’t be completed until the late 2030s.
We’re planning to power Britain, from Britain.
Our investment in Sizewell C nuclear plant will provide power to the equivalent of 6 million homes for over 50 years.
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— Dept for BEIS (@beisgovuk) November 29, 2022
Shapps commented: “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.”
Concern has been raised over the plans for Sizewell however, with groups suggesting the plant will likely be expensive and not as environmentally friendly as expected, as well as potentially seeing delays and rising costs like those at Hinkley Point C.
Despite confirmed government backing, there is still a lot of investment needed for the Sizewell project, which is estimated to cost £20bn according to the BBC.
Doug Parr of Greenpeace UK outlined: “It’s hard to work out what drives the government’s enthusiasm for new nuclear. It’s not cheap, or clean, or necessary as there are better, quicker and less expensive options to deliver electricity.”
The ‘Stop Sizewell C’ campaign tweeted: “There is still a huge amount of money to find, and no one is prepared to come clean about what the ultimate cost will be.”
.@StopSizewellC: the project could neither lower energy bills nor give the UK energy independence. Despite the government's paltry £700m, there's still a huge amount of ££ to find, and no one is prepared to come clean about what the ultimate cost will be" https://t.co/z7N3nb5rby
— Stop Sizewell C (TEAGS) (@StopSizewellC) November 29, 2022
Others have defended the government’s decision to move forward with the project, focussing on the long-term benefits of nuclear power investments.
EY global infrastructure leader Chris Lewis said: “With energy prices so high the Sizewell C project offers real value for money. To put this into context, if Hinkley Point C was operational today it would be saving consumers approximately £4bn a year.”
He added the deal marks the “start of a new era for nuclear energy in the UK.”