New nuclear plant to get £1.7bn of direct government funding

Chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak has earmarked £1.7 billion of new funding to help get one major new nuclear power plant off the ground before the next election.

The Treasury’s spending review, published on Wednesday (27 October) alongside the Budget, contained few new energy investment commitments beyond confirming those announced last week in the government’s Net Zero Strategy.

The biggest chunk of new money is £1.7 billion of direct government funding to enable a final investment decision on one large-scale nuclear project to be achieved during the current Parliament.

The most advanced plans for a large nuclear power plant are those by EDF for its Sizewell C project in Suffolk.

The spending review document said the project is the subject of “active negotiations” between the French state-owned company and the UK government, which published legislation on Tuesday that will enable the regulated asset base model to be used for financing nuclear plants.

The spending review also confirmed funding, announced last week in the Net Zero Strategy, for efforts to support small modular reactors.

Responding to the government’s announcement, Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said: “This is a big vote of confidence in nuclear and a historic step forward for nuclear investment, with new money for a large-scale project, alongside money for modular reactors to enable future projects.

“We can’t get to net zero without investing in new nuclear capacity, and this is a clear signal from government to investors that it sees nuclear as essential to our clean energy transition. This is not only an investment in a greener future, but also in jobs and skills right across the country.”