Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Get free updates
Register easily UK power myFT Digest — delivered straight to your inbox.
The final cost of building the proposed Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk could be as high as £40bn, people close to negotiations on the Flagship Energy scheme have said.
The sum is double the £20bn estimate given by developer EDF and the UK government for the project by 2020, reflecting the implications of construction costs as well as delays and cost overruns at sister site Hinkley Point C.
The high estimate could raise questions about the state’s nuclear power revival at a time of stretched government finances and rising cost of living concerns.
EDF says Sizewell, when operated, should be able to supply 6 million homes with low-carbon electricity for 60 years.
Treasury officials said a multiyear cost review this year will determine whether to proceed with the project.
The UK government and French energy group EDF were early backers of Sizewell C, but they are trying to raise billions of pounds from new investors, a process that is dragging on longer than planned.
Earlier this month, the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (Desnz) said it could not disclose the project’s current cost estimates for “commercial sensitivity”.
But a reasonable estimate from a senior government official and two well-placed industry sources to build Sizewell C would be around £40bn in 2025 prices.
The government has already committed £3.7bn of government funding to the project. Ministers They had planned to reach a final investment decision by the end of 2024, but were forced to delay this until spring 2025. There is now industry speculation that any deal could slip past the autumn.
Potential investors in Sizewell C include Centrica, Schroders Greencoat, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation and Amber Infrastructure Group.
According to accounts published at Companies House last week, Sizewell C is “making good progress in negotiations with private investors”.
Alison Downs, chief executive of campaign group Stop Sizewell C, urged the government to “clean up” the “huge real costs” of the project, as households would pay for the build first through energy bills. This mystery surrounding Sizewell C is inexcusable.
Dale Vince, a major Labor Party donor and founder of green energy company Sizewell, has warned the new Office of Money Laundering that Sizewell Construction “will leave consumers with higher bills long before a single supply of electricity.” .
Speaking to the Financial Times, he added: “Nuclear is too expensive, too slow – and too expensive to maintain at the end of its life.
Nuclear power currently provides 14% of the UK’s electricity and many experts say the push to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050 is crucial.
However, all but one of Britain’s current aging fleet of plants is due to close by March 2030, not long after planned life extensions cannot be sustained.
Only one new nuclear power station, Hinkley Point C in Somerset, is being built in the UK but it is delayed and over budget.
The project will start generating in early 2029 and will cost up to £46bn. This compares with early 2016 expectations that it would start in late 2025 and cost £18bn.
Sizewell C, according to Hinckley Point C EDF, says Sizewell C should be much cheaper in part because lessons are learned and supply chains become more developed.
It is being developed using various financial structures, including financing in the water sector. New Thames Tideway drainage tunnel. Instead of waiting until the plant is finished, developers start receiving payments from consumer bills during construction.
But there is skepticism within the government about how much lower the price tag for Sizewell C will be compared to Hinkley Point C.
Progress on the project has been partly knocked back by health concerns raised by Rob Holden, chairman of Sizewell C Ltd.
A Dezz spokesman said he did not know the “approximate” figure for the £40bn cost of Sizewell C.
“The project is expected to reduce the cost of the electricity system, increase the security of energy supply and generate significant investment at the national level.”
