UK’s New Nuclear Power: Sizewell C Construction Bill Progresses

The Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk has moved closer to construction following progress of its enabling legislation through Parliament, with the government maintaining its commitment to new nuclear capacity as an essential element of both the 2030 clean power target and the longer-term objective of energy security. The station, which would use the same EPR reactor design as Hinkley Point C currently under construction in Somerset, would when operational provide approximately seven percent of UK electricity from a zero-carbon baseload source.

The case for new nuclear has been reinforced by the Iran war’s demonstration of the vulnerability created by dependence on imported hydrocarbons. Unlike wind and solar, which depend on weather conditions and require significant backup capacity, nuclear provides predictable baseload generation that is not affected by geopolitical disruption to fossil fuel supply chains. The combination of nuclear and renewables, with storage and interconnectors providing the flexibility to balance supply and demand, is increasingly seen as the framework for a genuinely secure zero-carbon electricity system.

The financial structure of Sizewell C has been one of the most complex aspects of its development. The government has committed to a Regulated Asset Base model under which investors receive a regulated return from the construction phase rather than bearing all the risk until the station begins generating, reducing the financing cost but placing some risk on electricity bill payers. The involvement of public equity through the Great British Nuclear vehicle has also been part of the package required to attract private investment at viable terms.

Environmental groups are divided on the project, with some accepting nuclear as a necessary element of the clean energy mix and others maintaining principled opposition to the technology on grounds including waste storage, accident risk and the diversion of capital from renewables that could be deployed more quickly.