Centrica considers investment in Sizewell C nuclear power plant, boss says

Boss Chris O’Shea said the Sizewell site was a ‘possible future investment’ as the Government tries to secure funding for the plant.

Sizewell B was the last nuclear power plant to open in the UK (Chris Radburn/PA) (PA Archive)

Energy company Centrica is considering pumping cash into the construction of the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in Suffolk, its chief executive has revealed.

Boss Chris O’Shea said the Sizewell site was a “possible future investment” as the Government tries to secure funding for the plant, which could generate enough electricity to power six million homes.

Ministers kicked off the hunt to raise hundreds of millions of pounds from private companies to help build the mega project.

That is a possible future investment for Centrica, but it has to be on the right terms

Chris O’Shea

In 2015 French state-owned nuclear giant EDF announced that it had agreed to develop Sizewell C with China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN).

But over the years, increasing tensions between London and Beijing finally led to the Government deciding it did not want a Chinese company involved in one of the UK’s biggest infrastructure projects.

The Government ended up buying out CGN, and promised to put hundreds of millions into the site.

It now wants to find other investors to help build the power plant.

“It’s no secret that the Government and EDF are looking to put together a consortium to construct a new nuclear power station at Sizewell,” Mr O’Shea said.

“We are involved in that process, and we could be interested in investing in that. But the risk and the return has to be right.

“I’m pretty limited as to what I can say. That is a possible future investment for Centrica, but it has to be on the right terms.”

In recent decades governments led by Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and David Cameron all promised several new nuclear plants.

But out of those promised sites, only Sizewell B has opened and started producing in the mid 1990s. Hinkley Point C is also under construction.

Last month EDF revealed that Hinkley is likely to be delayed until 2029 or even 2031, and the price could hit as much as £35 billion in 2015 prices.

The initial budget had been £18 billion and the scheduled opening year was meant to be 2025.