Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the costs that will be incurred from projects to be supported by the Nuclear Energy (Finance) Bill.

Nuclear power is an important part of an affordable, low carbon electricity system which is better protected against the volatility of global gas prices.

Under the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) funding model enabled by the Nuclear Energy (Finance) Bill, consumers would pay an allowed revenue during the construction period of a new nuclear project, which would be an average of less than £1 a month on a typical dual fuel energy bill.

However, we estimate that use of the RAB model will lower the cost of capital and ultimately save consumers more than £30bn on their bills for each new large-scale station, compared with existing funding mechanisms. The Bill’s impact assessment is available here. Granting a RAB licence would also be contingent on a project satisfying a detailed value for money assessment.