UK government confirms FID in Sizewell C

UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has signed the final investment (FID) for Sizewell C (SZC) in Suffolk, with construction costs put at £38bn ($51bn).

The plant will feature two EPR reactors producing 3.2 GWe for at least 60 years, and is similar in design to the Hinkley Point C (HPC) NPP under construction in Somerset.

The previous official figure for the project was £20bn, but SZC joint managing director Julia Pyke said earlier estimates did not account for inflation or risk.

The UK government is taking an initial 44.9% stake, making it the biggest equity shareholder. Canadian investment fund La Caisse is taking 20%; UK energy and services company Centrica 15%; international infrastructure asset manager Amber Infrastructure 7.6% (with an option for a further 2.4% from the government); and France’s EDF 12.5%. A proposed £5bn debt guarantee from France’s export credit agency, Bpifrance Assurance Export, may back EDF’s commercial bank loans.

Funding will be a mixture of equity and debt – £8.8bn in equity from the government and the other investors, and £36.6bn in debt provided by the National Wealth Fund (NWF). The total debt of more than £45bn allows for a buffer or contingency in case costs overrun. Interest payments will be part funded by a £1 monthly levy on electricity users or the duration of the construction phase under the Regulated Asset Base funding model.

Read more here UK confirms FID in Sizewell C – Nuclear Engineering International