EDF has confirmed that it will take a 12.5% stake in Sizewell C NPP under construction in the UK. EDF is the first shareholder to announce its backing for the plant after the UK government confirmed funding of £14.2bn ($19.3bn) in its recent Spending Review.
EDF said its latest investment would represent a maximum of £1.1bn. The company has already invested around €600m ($703m). Bpifrance export credit agency will provide a £5bn debt guarantee to the NPP, according to the UK government.
Confirming the EDF stake, the UK government said: “further investors and details on the project’s financing will be confirmed at the point of the final investment decision (FID).” The FID, originally targeted for late last year, is now set for this summer. In April, Darren Jones, chief secretary to the Treasury, said the FID would be taken in June.
The twin unit Hinkley Point C NPP in Somerset is estimated to have exceeded £40bn of costs after years of delay. In January, the French auditor ordered EDF to refinance the Hinkley project before finalising an investment in Sizewell C.
Sizewell C will also feature two EPRs producing 3.2 GWe for at least 60 years – it is an EPR design like Hinkley Point C – the first new nuclear construction project in the UK for about three decades. In 2016, EDF and China General Nuclear (CGN) agreed to develop Sizewell C with EDF holding an 80% stake and CGN 20%. However, the UK government subsequently blocked Chinese investments in UK infrastructure and undertook to invest £679m and become a 50% partner with EDF in the project. Following additional UK government funding EDF’s stake fell to 16.2% and will now fall further to 12.5%.
The UK government has been seeking private sector investment in Sizewell C, launching a pre-qualification for potential investors as the first stage of an equity raise in September 2023.
According to the Financial Times, Canada’s Brookfield Corporation is now set to become the largest private investor with a stake of around 20%. Centrica CEO Chris O’Shea said in June that it would also invest up to 20% in the Sizewell C project. Other potential investors that the government contacted are thought to include Amber Infrastructure Group, Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, Equitix and Schroders Greencoat. The government’s energy department has said it will remain a “significant shareholder” in the project, which it said will enable it to limit delays.
