EDF delays its final decision on Sizewell C power station
THE timeline for EDF to decide whether to go ahead with the £20bn Sizewell C power station has slipped amid a lengthy planning approval process and funding negotiations with ministers.
The French power giant now expects to make a final investment decision on the Suffolk plant at the end of 2022 or in 2023, compared to its previous expectations of mid-2022.
The plant, set to power 6m homes, would be the second new UK nuclear plant in a generation after Hinkley Point C in Somerset, which EDF is building with minority Chinese partner China General Nuclear (CGN).
Almost all of the UK’S ageing plants are set to shut down by the end of this decade, leaving a gap in the nation’s power supply just as demand grows due to rising use of electric cars.
Nuclear provides about 17pc of the nation’s annual power supply.
EDF is in negotiations with the Government about a funding deal. However, talks have been overshadowed in recent weeks by reports that ministers are seeking ways to block CGN from Sizewell and future UK nuclear projects. CGN has a 20pc development stake in Sizewell with an option to participate in the construction phase.
EDF submitted its application for a development consent order to the planning inspectorate last May and has since made over a dozen changes.
It has just submitted plans to build a temporary desalination facility alongside the site to provide fresh water to the plant during construction, involving up to nine 40ft shipping containers.
EDF said it wanted the planning approval process to be as thorough as possible so that feedback from local communities and others is listened to.
Stop Sizewell C, a local campaign group, said the changes to the water supply plan “exemplifies just how wrong this project is for our area”.