The government needs to put its money where its mouth is on EDF’s Sizewell C nuclear plant after No 10 Downing Street rowed back on reports that the project is under review, experts have told Utility Week.
On Friday (4 November) morning, the BBC reported that the 3.2GW power station was “under review” as part of a fresh look at government capital spending commitments ahead of chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement on 17 November.
The report sparked a strong backlash with the GMB union describing any U-turn on Sizewell C as “catastrophic” for UK energy security.
However, the Nuclear Industry Association has been reassured by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy that the government’s support for Sizewell C has not altered, which has subsequently been confirmed by prime minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson.
Sue Ferns, senior deputy general secretary of the Prospect union, called for the government to stop delaying its investment decision on the £20 billion project.
She told Utility Week: “We’ve now had three prime ministers this year saying that they’re committed to the Sizewell C project. That’s great but not one of them has yet taken the government investment decision. That’s what we need: we’ve had the warm words, we need the decisions and the action.
“We’ve got a British Energy Security Strategy that commits the government to up to 24GW of new nuclear and a manifesto commitment to one new project in the lifetime of this Parliament. They just need to honour those commitments and get on with it.
“This should not be a difficult decision, given the commitments that they’ve made in Parliament and in their manifesto.
“No private investor is going to put their money in a long-term project that’s beset by uncertainty. That (investment decision) will allow EDF to get on and raise the private finances it needs to take Sizewell C forward.”
Ferns was backed up by Tim Yeo, chairman of the New Nuclear Watch Foundation.
He said that given the relatively limited share of government investment proposed in Sizewell C, the government would be “cutting off its nose to spite its face” if it does not support the project.
In addition, continuing uncertainty would increase the cost of capital for investors in the project, the former Conservative MP told Utility Week.
Boris Johnson warned that it would be “absolute madness” not to press ahead with the Sizewell C plant in his final speech as prime minister before stepping down in early September.
The government has committed £1.7 billion to support the project, which would be the second in the fleet of new nuclear power stations if it is built.