Move comes as government encourages ‘golden age of nuclear’ to meet country’s growing need for electricity
The Sizewell B nuclear power plant in the UK will produce electricity for a further 20 years after a deal was reached between its owner, the French state utility EDF, and the government.
The 1,198-MW pressurised water reactor unit, in Suffolk, eastern England, began commercial operation in 1995 and was due to be permanently shut down in 2035, but will now continue operating until 2055.
The plant produces 3% of Britain’s electricity, enough to meet the equivalent demand of 2.5 million homes.
The government approved plans by EDF to extend its life. The government has said that a “golden age of nuclear” will help the UK meet the growing need for electricity to power electric vehicles, low-carbon heating and AI datacentres while keeping its climate commitments intact.
Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, said: “Nuclear power is vital for our energy security, and this extension will help produce the clean power our country needs.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the life extension 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”.
EDF UK chief executive officer Simone Rossi said : “Global events demonstrate time and again how vital it is for the UK to secure long term, low -carbon, homegrown electricity which protects British households and businesses from market volatility. Extending the life of the plants we already have alongside building new ones is central to EDF ’s strategy.”
Under the deal, EDF will receive £70.50 (€82.7, $94.6) for every megawatt-hour Sizewell B generates, starting from 2035, when it was originally due to close. The extra investment needed to maintain the plant will come from British multinational energy company Centrica, which owns a 20% share in EDF’s reactors in the UK.
All Nine Plants To Continue Running
All nine commercial nuclear plants in the UK have now struck a deal with the government to continue running, following the decision last year to extend the life of eight units at four nuclear stations built across the country in the 1980s.
EDF Energy said in 2024 that two stations due to close in March 2026 – Hartlepool A and Heysham A – would remain online until March 2027. Two more stations, Heysham B and Torness, which were scheduled to close in March 2028, will stay online until March 2030.
Each station has two Generation II advanced gas-cooled reactor units. According to International Atomic Energy data the eight units have a combined net capacity of 4,685 MW.
The UK has nine operational reactors* across five nuclear sites providing around 14% of the country’s electricity. Thirty-six reactors have been permanently shut down.
The government is also pushing ahead with plans for two new units at Sizewell C, while two units at Hinkley Point C are under construction.
Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the London-based Nuclear Industry Association, said Sizewell B is the cleanest, most productive and most reliable plant in the whole country, so extending its life is “one of the best things we can do to build an affordable and reliable clean power system”.
The NIA said that since 1995, Sizewell B has produced over 270 TWh of low-carbon electricity, enough to meet the needs of every household in the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk for more than 100 years.
* The UK’s nine commercial nuclear power reactors are: Hartlepool A-1, Hartlepool A-2, Heysham A-1, Heysham A-2, Heysham B-1, Heysham B-2, Sizewell B, Torness-1, Torness-2.
Sizewell B has produced enough electricity to meet the needs of every household in Suffolk and Norfolk for more than 100 years. Courtesy EDF.
