Britain is seeking to build new nuclear plants to replace its ageing fleet to help boost its energy security and also reach its climate targets.
The Sizewell C plant in Suffolk is expected to create around 10,000 jobs during the peak of construction and produce enough electricity to power around 6 million homes when built.
“We need new nuclear to deliver a golden age of clean energy abundance, because that is the only way to protect family finances, take back control of our energy, and tackle the climate crisis,” Britain’s energy minister Ed Miliband said in a statement.
Britain has been seeking to bring new investors into the project but today’s announcement did not mention any other parties.
The government has not said how much the project is expected to cost in total or given a date for when it is expected to be completed.
Sizewell is expected to use a regulated-asset-base (RAB) funding model where companies building new plants would be paid during the construction phase, cutting down their development risk and allowing them to secure cheaper financing.
Critics of RAB say it will leave taxpayers liable for any cost over-runs and delays during construction and add costs to energy bills at a time when many people are already struggling.
It would be only the second new nuclear plant built in Britain in more than two decades, after French state-owned EDF’s Hinkley Point C which has had several delays and cost overruns and is currently expected to start operations in 2029, with an estimated cost of between 31 and 34 billion pounds at 2015 prices.
Simone Rossi, CEO of EDF in the UK welcomed the British government’s decision to go ahead with Sizewell C and said “It is also a vote of confidence in Hinkley Point C, which has re-started the UK nuclear industry and built the experience and skills that will benefit Sizewell C”.
Sizewell C was originally an EDF project but is now majority owned by the British government with EDF a minority shareholder.
The UK government’s stake was 83.8% and EDF’s stake was 16.2% at the end of December, EDF financial results showed in February with EDF’s stake expected to decrease following today’s announcement.
The project’s developer last December told Reuters there were five investors involved in a bidding process.