Thursday 18 January 2018

‘Sizewell could be 20% cheaper than Hinkley’

EDF has claimed it could build a second new nuclear power station in the UK a fifth cheaper than the cost of the £20 billion Hinkley Point C project.

The energy giant said the planned Sizewell facility on the Suffolk coast could be built more cheaply by replicating its predecessor's construction techniques, using existing grid connections and adopting new finance models.

The company added it could deliver Hinkley on time, with the first power to be generated by 2025.

Last year the government’s spending watchdog branded the project "expensive and risky".

Simone Rossi, EDF’s Chief Executive, said Sizewell would also prove competitive with alternative sources of power, adding construction would start while Hinkley was still being built.

Mr Rossi suggested Britain should also install as much renewable energy as possible in its move towards decarbonisation.

He said: "To summarise, the recipe is to use as much wind as you can, sprinkle some sun, some batteries, some gas around it, and put on a base of nuclear and put it in the oven."