EDF considers reprieve for nuclear plants amid net zero challenge
EDF is seeking to extend the life of four ageing nuclear power stations as the shift to net zero creates greater demand for green energy.
The French energy giant, which owns all five of the UK’S current nuclear power sites, said it will review whether four that are due to close between 2026 and 2028 can be kept open for longer.
It comes as the shift towards renewable energy, such as wind and solar, fluctuates in output and stokes demand for carbon-free alternatives such as nuclear.
Currently, Heysham 1 and Hartlepool are due to close in March 2026, while Heysham 2 and Torness will shut in March 2028.
All four use British-built, advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGRS) that EDF acquired in 2009.
They have a combined maximum capacity of about 4.9 gigawatts.
Heysham 1 and Hartlepool recently had their lifetimes extended by two years, while Torness previously had its closure date moved forward from 2030 to 2028.
However, EDF yesterday said: “These AGR lifetimes will be reviewed again by the end of 2024 and the ambition is to generate beyond these current forecasts, subject to plant inspections and regulatory approvals.” The company also runs the 1.2-gigawatt Sizewell B nuclear power station in Suffolk, which uses pressurised water reactors.
Sizewell is scheduled to close in 2035 but EDF believes it could run for a further 20 years and will decide whether to pursue that option next year. Any extensions would have to be approved by the Office for Nuclear Regulation, the industry regulator.
It comes as the company is among those ramping up investment in Britain’s nuclear power industry.
Nuclear is seen as a key pillar of the Government’s energy security strategy, which aims for the UK to have 24 gigawatts of capacity by 2050 – accounting for a quarter of the country’s electricity needs. EDF is currently building Hinkley Point C in Somerset, the country’s first new nuclear power station since Sizewell B was completed in the 1990s.
It is also jointly developing proposals for another power station, Sizewell C, with the Government.
Yesterday, the company said its power stations produced 37.3 terawatt hours of power in 2023, about 4pc more than planned.
The company said the figure was a result of £7.5bn of investment. Under earlier plans, all the AGR sites would have originally been shut last year.
Separate figures released yesterday showed nuclear power provided 14pc of Britain’s electricity in 2023 overall.
That compared to 32pc from natural gas, 29pc from wind farms, 5pc from biomass and 5pc from solar farms, according to the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO).
Hydropower provided another 2pc, coal about 1pc and storage such as batteries 1pc, with imports via electricity interconnectors from Europe supplying the final 11pc. The amount of power produced by burning coal had dramatically fallen since 2013, when it represented about 40pc of the electricity mix.
Last year’s share of gas-fired generation was also the lowest reported since 2015, the ESO said, while December was the 15th month in a row where green energy provided more power than fossil fuels.
The highest share of wind power seen in 2023 was on Nov 19, between 4.30am and 5am, when it reached 69pc. Multiple records were broken for generation from both wind power and solar power. Overall, zero carbon sources provided 51pc of electricity used in Britain last year, up from 48.5pc in 2022.