On 22 July, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband signed the final investment decision for Sizewell C, which will deliver clean power for the equivalent of six million homes and support 10,000 jobs once operational.
The deal represents the country’s most significant public investment in clean, homegrown energy this century.
The Government claims that Sizewell C will deliver cheaper clean electricity for generations of families for at least six decades.
Its analysis suggests that the project could create savings of £2 billion a year across the future low-carbon electricity system once operational, leading to cheaper power for consumers.
The project will also help to kick-start economic growth and get Britain building. At peak construction, Sizewell C will support 10,000 jobs directly employed in the project, and thousands more in the nationwide supply chain, as well as creating 1,500 apprenticeships.
70 percent of the value of construction is set to be awarded to British
businesses - Sizewell C Ltd anticipates it will have 3,500 UK companies in its supply chain across the entire country.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “It is time to do big things and build big projects in this country again- and today we announce an investment that will provide clean, homegrown power to millions of homes for generations to come.
“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.”
The Government has confirmed it will take an initial 44.9 percent stake to become the single biggest equity shareholder in the project.
The new Sizewell C shareholders include La Caisse, Centrica, Amber Infrastructure and EDF, as well as a proposed £5 billion debt guarantee from France’s export credit agency, Bpifrance Assurance Export, to
back the company’s commercial bank loans.
Alongside this investment, the National Wealth Fund, the Government’s principal investor and policy bank, is making its first investment in nuclear energy. It will provide the majority of the project’s debt finance, working alongside Bpifrance Assurance Export, to help support the building of the power plant.
Julia Pyke and Nigel Cann, Joint Managing Directors of Sizewell C, said: “We’re delighted to welcome new investors alongside government and EDF […] by investing in Sizewell C, they are laying the foundations for a more secure, cleaner and more affordable energy system.
“Because 70 percent of our construction spend will be in the UK, with a £4.4 billion commitment to the east of England, they will also help to create thousands of great jobs and new opportunities for people and businesses up and down the country.
“We are determined to deliver this major infrastructure differently, and to make sure
this is a project Britain can be proud of.”
The investment deal builds on lessons learnt from the construction of Hinkley Point C to provide a funding model that spreads the around £38 billion cost of constructing Sizewell C between consumers, taxpayers and private investors. This represents a saving of around 20 percent compared with Hinkley Point C and demonstrates the value of building a virtual replica project.
For the first time, taxpayers will be “co-owners” of a nuclear power plant alongside experienced private sector partners.
This, the Government claims, will ensure the impact on consumer bills is limited to an average of around £1 per month over the duration of Sizewell C’s construction, with the nuclear plant projected to deliver cheaper clean power for decades to come once operational.
Despite the UK’s strong nuclear legacy, including opening the world’s first commercial nuclear power station in the 1950s, no new nuclear
plant has opened in the UK since 1995, with all the existing fleet except Sizewell B likely to be phased out by the early 2030s.
Sizewell C was one of eight sites identified in 2009 by then-Energy Secretary Ed Miliband as a potential site for new nuclear. However, the project was not fully funded in the 14 years that followed under subsequent governments.
Once small modular reactors and Sizewell C come online in the 2030s, combined with Hinkley Point C, the Government claims it will deliver more new nuclear to the grid than over the previous half century combined.
Recently, the Government also set out next steps for small modular reactors in the UK and last month selected Rolls-Royce SMR as the preferred bidder to build first reactors of this kind in the country.
Following this, the Prime Minister signed a new agreement with Czech Prime Minister Fiala last week that will see the two countries work more closely on small modular reactors to seize export opportunities and support high-skilled jobs.