Tuesday, 8 July 2025
France’s EDF has announced that it has agreed in principle to invest up to GBP1.1 billion (USD1.5 billion) in the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in the UK, taking a 12.5% in the project. A final investment decision on the project has yet to be made.
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“This investment would be made at the time of the final investment decision by the project once the negotiation of agreements with the UK Government and investors is finalised, EDF said.
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.
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 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 to about 16%.
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.
Private investors sought
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.
Last month, the UK government announced it was committing GBP14.2 billion towards the building of the Sizewell C plant. The announcement of the funding was seen as a prelude to a Final Investment Decision later this year.
“EDF is the first shareholder to announce its backing for the nuclear plant alongside the UK government,” the UK government said. “Today’s announcement takes Sizewell C one step closer to being given the green light, when it will help to deliver the UK’s ‘golden age’ of nuclear and see clean power supplied to millions of homes.”
It added that further investors and details on the project’s financing will be confirmed at the point of the Final Investment Decision, targeted for this summer.
The UK government said it will remain “a significant shareholder in the project – ensuring we have oversight of the progress and limiting delays.”
According to the Financial Times, Canada’s Brookfield Corporation – which owns 51% of Westinghouse – is set to take a more than 20% stake in Sizewell C, which would make it the largest shareholder after the UK government. Centrica, the owner of British Gas, is set to take a stake of about 15%, the Financial Times previously reported.
It has also been announced that Bpifrance, France’s export credit agency, is set to provide a GBP5 billion debt guarantee to Sizewell C. “This supports lending to the project from a number of leading commercial banks and is enabled by Sizewell C’s innovative funding model that spreads costs between consumers, taxpayers and private investors.”
Tom Greatrex, Chief Executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, welcomed EDF’s announcement, saying: “This is a historic investment that will help deliver the first true replica power station in British nuclear history. That replication is the best way proven to cut cost, speed up construction and deliver the jobs and energy security the country needs. Sizewell C will be a huge engine of economic growth in our industrial heartlands and form the bedrock of a more competitive energy system for the rest of this century.”
