UK government announces GBP14.2 billion for Sizewell C

Tuesday, 10 June 2025

In its announcement of the funding - which is seen as a prelude to a Final Investment Decision later this year -  the UK government said 10,000 jobs would be created during peak construction, including 1500 apprenticeships. Unlike Hinkley Point C, the Sizewell C project looks set to be majority-owned by the UK government, although talks are continuing with other public and private sector investors. 

The EDF-led plan is for Sizewell C to feature two EPRs producing 3.2 GW of electricity, enough to power the equivalent of around six million homes for at least 60 years. It would be a similar design to the two-unit plant being built at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, with the aim of building it more quickly and at lower cost as a result of the experience gained from what is the first new nuclear construction project in the UK for about three decades.

Read more: Rolls-Royce SMR named as UK's selected technology

The UK aims to grow nuclear energy capacity to 24 GW by 2050, with a mix of traditional large-scale power plants and small modular reactors (SMRs). The timeline outlined by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband was for the first unit to come online around the mid-2030s.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said:  "Today we are once again investing in Britian’s renewal, with the biggest nuclear building programme in a generation. This landmark decision is our Plan for Change in action. We are creating thousands of jobs, kickstarting economic growth and putting more money people’s pockets."

Miliband said: "We will not accept the status quo of failing to invest in the future and energy insecurity for our country.  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."

Julia Pyke and Nigel Cann, Joint-Managing Directors of Sizewell C, said: "Today marks the start of an exciting new chapter for Sizewell C, the UK’s first British-owned nuclear power plant in over 30 years. It’s a privilege to be leading a project that will create over 10,000 jobs, secure Britain’s energy future and revitalise the UK’s nuclear industry. We aim to showcase British infrastructure at its best – delivering a cleaner, more secure energy future for generations to come."

Tom Greatrex, Nuclear Industry Association CEO, said: "This new nuclear programme will give the country the jobs, the economic growth and the energy security we need to ensure a secure and reliable power supply for the future. This announcement shows the government is serious about new nuclear, and realising the economic benefits that come with it, and will be welcomed in communities the length and breadth of Britain."

More financing details to come

The large-scale funding announcement from the UK government is expected to be the forerunner of more from other parties to come in the coming weeks, although there has been no official overall budget announced for the project. Energy Secretary Miliband said the total cost would be announced at the time of the Final Investment Decision which "will take place this summer". He said the UK government believed that nuclear energy "is the least-cost alternative compared with alternative low-carbon technologies".

EDF, which is French state-owned, has made clear that it does not want to have a large ownership stake in the project, unlike with Hinkley Point C. 

In October 2016, EDF agreed with China General Nuclear (CGN) to develop the Sizewell C project to the point where a final investment decision could be made. EDF had an 80% stake and CGN a 20% stake. However, the then so-called "golden era" of UK-China relations ended with the UK government citing security concerns as it reviewed and blocked Chinese investments in UK infrastructure. In November 2022, the UK said it would invest GBP679 million (USD845 million) and become a 50% partner with EDF in the Sizewell C project. Further UK government funding has since been announced, with EDF's stake falling - it said in November 2022 that it planned to "retain only a minority stake in the final investment decision - a maximum of 20%".

The UK government has been seeking private sector investment in the Sizewell C project, launching a pre-qualification for potential investors as the first stage of an equity raise process in September 2023. It has also taken legislation through Parliament allowing a new way of funding new large infrastructure projects - a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) funding model, which can see consumers contributing towards the cost of new nuclear power plants during the construction phase. Under the previous Contracts for Difference system developers finance the construction of a nuclear project and only begin receiving revenue when the station starts generating electricity.

In an interview the BBC's Today programme on Tuesday, Miliband said the project would be majority publicly-owned but there would also be private investors. He said that the previous government's policy of excluding Chinese investment in the project would continue and that all private and public investors would be subject to national security checks.

In the House of Commons he told MPs there was a private sector raise taking place ahead of the final investment decision. He added that the goal would be for the new capacity to be online by the mid-2030s. He said that the expectation was that 70% of supply chain spending for the new nuclear projects announced would be in the UK and described it as a "golden age for nuclear". He suggested that the Wylfa site in North Wales was being considered by Great British Energy - Nuclear as a potential site for another future large-scale nuclear power plant.

Other nuclear projects get go-ahead

Also on Tuesday - on the eve of the government setting out its future spending plans in its Spending Review - Rolls-Royce SMR was announced as the winning technology selected for UK-government backed deployment.

The company was on a three-company shortlist with GE Hitachi and Holtec. It had been originally expected that two or three technologies might be selected, each with their own site to build two or three of their SMRs.

The UK government said that GBP2.5 billion of funding was being released for the SMR programme over the spending review period - which is up to April 2030. The aim is to allocate a site for the project featuring the Rolls-Royce SMR, a 470 MWe pressurised water reactor, later this year "and connect projects to the grid in the mid-2030s".

The contest was run by Great British Nuclear (now renamed Great British Energy - Nuclear) which said: "The selection follows a rigorous and transparent procurement process over two years, with the competition having launched in July 2023. Subject to final approvals and contract signature, Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd will enter a strategic technology development partnership with Great British Energy - Nuclear – a fully publicly-owned company."

Although Rolls-Royce SMR has been selected for the UK state-backed project, there are SMR technology providers at various stages of development of other projects in the UK. Miliband, in the House of Commons, said that there may be "private sector partners who may want to come in and build sooner" than the government-backed project.

One of those planning to develop their SMR technology in the future, Newcleo, announced on Tuesday that its 200 MWe lead-cooled fast reactor had been accepted for its Generic Design Assessment by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Nuclear energy in the UK

The UK's energy strategy has set the target for eight new reactors plus small modular reactors to produce 24 GWe capacity by 2050, meeting about 25% of the UK's projected electricity demand.

The UK currently generates about 15% of its electricity from about 6.5 GW of nuclear capacity. The Hinkley Point C project is the first new nuclear capacity being built in the UK for about 30 years.

According to a report from the  Nuclear Industry Association, published on Monday, employment in the UK's nuclear power sector grew 35% between 2021 and 2024 to reach 87,000 workers.