The Sizewell B nuclear power station in Suffolk will continue generating electricity until 2055, after the government approved a 20-year life extension. The plant, which began operating in 1995, was originally due to close within the next decade but will now run for 60 years, producing 3% of Britain's electricity – enough to power 2.5 million homes.
Under the deal with owner EDF, the French state utility will receive £70.50 per megawatt-hour generated from 2035, when the plant was initially scheduled to shut. The additional investment required for maintenance will come mostly from EDF, with Centrica contributing 20% to match its ownership stake in EDF's UK reactors.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: "Nuclear power is vital for our energy security, and this extension will help produce the clean power our country needs." Chancellor Rachel Reeves added that the move was "a real vote of confidence in the hundreds of skilled workers in Suffolk who will power Britain's clean energy future, delivering the long-term certainty that businesses and workers need."
The extension is part of broader government efforts to encourage new nuclear projects. Several older reactors – Heysham 2 and Torness – have been extended to March 2030, while Heysham 1 and Hartlepool will run until March 2028. The first new plant in a generation, Hinkley Point C in Somerset, is under construction and expected to begin generating in the early 2030s, followed by Sizewell C, scheduled before 2039.
The government also supports small modular reactors, which could be operational in the 2030s, and has approved the One Earth Solar Farm on the Nottinghamshire-Lincolnshire border, capable of powering over 200,000 homes. Miliband said: "The only way to have energy security is if we take a pro-growth approach to building more clean energy in Britain. For two years that is exactly what this government has done."
