Government signs deal to build £38-billion nuclear power plant in Suffolk
The UK government has signed off on a multi-billion-pound deal to deliver the Sizewell C nuclear power plant on the Suffolk coast of England.
The Sizewell C nuclear plant forms part of the government’s clean energy strategy and aims to provide clean power for the equivalent of 6 million homes and support 10,000 jobs once operational.
The investment deal agreed by the government today marks one of the country’s most significant investments in clean energy in a century. It spreads the total cost of building the Sizewell C power plant – around £38 billion – between consumers, taxpayers, and private investors, and the government said this total cost is a saving of around 20% compared to the construction of the Hinkley Point C power plant.
The government said UK citizens would effectively be co-owners of the power plant, with the cost of their stake being an impact on consumer energy bills, limited to an average of around £1 per month over the duration of Sizewell C’s construction.
Government will take an initial 44.9% stake in the project, becoming the single biggest equity shareholder. Other shareholders and their stakes include La Caisse with 20%, Centrica with 15%, Amber Infrastructure with 7.6%, and French energy giant EDF with 12.5%.
The company’s commercial bank loans will also be backed by a proposed £5-billion debt guarantee from France’s export credit agency, Bpifrance Assurance Export. The National Wealth Fund will provide the majority of the project’s debt finance to help support the building of the power plant.
Sizewell C is projected to create energy cost savings of £2 billion a year across the future low-carbon electricity system once operational, which could result in cheaper power for consumers.
70% of the value of Sizewell C’s construction work is set to be awarded to British businesses, and the company operating the site anticipates it will have 3,500 UK companies in its supply chain across the entire country.
“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,” said Energy Secretary Ed Milliband.
“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.”
