The Sizewell C plant is expected to cost £20bn and could provide the UK with 7% of its electricity.
Image source, Sizewell CThe government has granted development consent for the new Sizewell C nuclear power plant on the Suffolk coast.
The project, mainly funded by the French energy company EDF, is expected to cost in the region of £20bn.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s consent is required for nationally significant infrastructure projects and is followed by more detailed planning applications.
The power plant would be built next to the existing Sizewell B power plant.
EDF said the two-reactor plant would generate 3.2 gigawatts (GW) of electricity, enough to provide 7% of the UK’s needs.
It could power the equivalent of about six million homes and would generate electricity for 60 years, the firm said.
The government has committed £100m to developing the project and planned to take a 20% stake in the plant.
Local anti-nuclear campaigners have objected to the plant on grounds including that it would be built next to the RSPB’s Minsmere nature reserve.
Image source, Andrew Woodger/BBC
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