Government boosts investment in Sizewell C to £2.5bn

The government has invested another £1.3 billion in EDF’s Sizewell C nuclear project, bringing the total to date to around £2.5 billion.

The latest injection came as the campaign group Together Against Sizewell C announced it was “refusing to admit defeat” in its legal challenge, which it will now take to the Supreme Court.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said the £1.3 billion investment “consolidates the government’s position as the majority shareholder in the project, reached in December 2023.” It said the money will pay for ongoing preparatory works at the site in Suffolk such as improvements to nearby roads and rail lines.

Nuclear minister Andrew Bowie said: “We are making fantastic progress on the next GW-scale power plant in the UK’s nuclear pipeline.

“This investment injection means we can steam ahead with work on Sizewell C ahead of the final investment decision targeted later this year.”

Julia Pyke and Nigel Cann, joint managing directors at Sizewell C, said: “This significant investment underlines the importance of Sizewell C for Britain and is a further sign of confidence in our team to deliver it.

“With the project now in construction, the funding means we can step up activity in Suffolk and deliver on our commitments to local communities.”

In November 2022, the government revealed plans to acquire a 50% stake in the project and announced it was investing £679 million to help get it over the line and buy out EDF’s partner – the Chinese nuclear developer CGN. It reportedly agreed to pay CGN £100 million for its 20% share.

The government subsequently announced further investments of £170 million and £341 million in July and August last year – the first to fund preparatory works at the site and the second to build up the supply chain for the project.

When asked by Utility Week, DESNZ declined to confirm its exact stake in Sizewell C and how this had grown with previous investments.

Earlier this month, Sizewell C announced that construction work could formally begin after the company triggered its Development Consent Order (DCO) for the project. The developer said it had satisfied all of the conditions imposed when the DCO was granted in July 2022.

The energy secretary at the time, Kwasi Kwarteng, awarded planning permission for the 3.2GW power station against the recommendations of the Planning Inspectorate’s Examining Authority, which raised concerns over its environmental impacts and the lack of clarity over its future water supplies.

Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) subsequently sought a judicial review of the decision but its request was denied. The group then appealed the ruling but its claims were dismissed by the Court of Appeal in December.

It has now announced plans to take its appeal to the Supreme Court. In a joint statement issued alongside Stop Sizewell C and Suffolk Coastal Friends of the Earth, the group said: “It is the government’s decision to drive a bulldozer through East Suffolk by triggering Sizewell C’s construction when it has no nuclear site licence, no final investment decision or transparency about how much the project will cost or who might pay for it, that has forced us to take our case to the highest court in the land.”

TASC said the environmental impacts of meeting the 2 million litres per day water requirements for the power station – either from a new desalination plant or from Northumbrian Water – should have been considered as part of the planning application.

Rowan Smith, a solicitor at Leigh Day, the law firm representing the group, said: “Fundamentally, our client is arguing that, without a permanent water supply, Sizewell C cannot operate, so the environmental impacts of sourcing that water needed to be assessed before development consent was given.

“The failure to do so was made even worse, so they say, given Suffolk is in drought and has vulnerable habitats, which need to be protected. We sincerely hope the Supreme Court grants permission to appeal for this decision to be looked at again.”

Commenting on the latest government investment, Alison Downes from Stop Sizewell C, said: “The government has now spent £2.5 billion of taxpayers’ money on Sizewell C, with grave uncertainty about its ability to make a final investment decision, or even how much the project will cost.

“There’s little indication external investors have serious interest in Sizewell C at this point, and every sign that Hinkley Point C’s costs and schedule in building the same type of reactors are heading south, so it is inexplicable why the government is intent on shackling taxpayers and consumers to such a disastrous project, especially with an election approaching.”