By Susanna Twidale and America Hernandez
LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) -French nuclear energy utility EDF will invest around 1.1 billion pounds ($1.5 billion) in the Sizewell C nuclear project in Britain in which it is already a shareholder, the French presidency and British government said on Tuesday.
The announcement was made during French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Britain, the first by a European leader since Brexit.
Britain is seeking to build new nuclear plants to replace its ageing facilities to bolster energy security and its climate target of net zero emissions by 2050.
Once operational, the Sizewell C plant is projected to generate enough electricity to power around 6 million homes.
“This investment takes us a step closer to the benefits it will bring to the British people,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement.
State-owned EDF said its investment means it will have a 12.5% stake in the project.
EDF’s latest annual report showed it held a 16.2% stake in the project at the end of 2024, which was equivalent to 652 million euros already invested. That stake was expected to change as the UK government increased its investment and as other investors join.
Britain’s government has already committed 17.8 billion pounds to the project but continues to look for additional investors.
US-listed investment fund Brookfield has agreed to take a stake of more than 20% in the project in exchange for funds to finance the development of the nuclear plant, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.
Brookfield declined to comment.
British utility Centrica has previously said it would consider a stake in the project but has yet to announce any decision.
A spokesperson for Centrica said the company does not comment on speculation about M&A or investments.
OVERSIGHT
The British government said it was in discussions with a range of potential investors which were commercially sensitive.
“The UK Government will remain a significant shareholder in the project – ensuring we have oversight of the progress and limiting delays,” the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said in the press release.
China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) was initially set to develop the Sizewell C project alongside EDF but the UK government bought out the Chinese firm’s stake in 2022 amid security concerns.
Sizewell C would be the second new nuclear plant built in Britain in more than two decades, after EDF’s Hinkley Point C, which faced several delays and cost overruns and is now expected to start operations in 2029, at an estimated cost of 31-34 billion pounds in 2015 prices.
While the government has not said how much it expects the project to cost, EDF has previously said that Sizewell C would be around 20% cheaper than Hinkley C.
($1 = 0.7363 pounds)
(Reporting by Susanna Twidale in London, Elizabeth Pineau, America Hernandez, Geert De Clercq and Makini Brice in Paris, Andreas Gonzalez in London; Editing by Louise Heavens and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
