Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Further steps to prepare Sizewell C for construction, published on 22 January 2024, which existing budgets the £1.3 billion additional investment has been made available from.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The investment of £1.3bn made available to the Sizewell C project last month is from the Department’s capital budgets agreed as part of the 2022 Spending Review.
The continued development of the Sizewell C project is commercially sensitive and we cannot disclose the further information at this time. The Sizewell C project is continuously reviewed and assured through the Major Projects Review Group (MPRG), and the Department has committed to publishing a value for money assessment for the project at the point of any Final Investment Decision.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Further steps to prepare Sizewell C for construction, published on 22 January 2024, if she will publish the business case for that additional funding.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The investment of £1.3bn made available to the Sizewell C project last month is from the Department’s capital budgets agreed as part of the 2022 Spending Review.
The continued development of the Sizewell C project is commercially sensitive and we cannot disclose the further information at this time. The Sizewell C project is continuously reviewed and assured through the Major Projects Review Group (MPRG), and the Department has committed to publishing a value for money assessment for the project at the point of any Final Investment Decision.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether unanticipated cost increases for Sizewell C will fall on consumers under the proposed Regulated Asset Base financing model.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The National Audit Office assessed that models such as RAB could have resulted in better value for money to consumers if they had been applied to Hinkley Point C.
Our plans for implementing the RAB model for nuclear include multiple safeguards to protect consumers’ interests. These include robust due diligence according to HM Treasury Green Book guidance prior to any final investment decisions and implementing an incentives regime for projects to manage cost and schedule.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what target her Department has set for the level of private equity finance to be raised for Sizewell C; how much equity has been committed (a) in total and (b) by EDF; what deadline there is for the conclusion of the private equity-raising process; and whether her Department has set a maximum level of equity that it will commit to this project.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The equity raise process for the Sizewell C process is ongoing and commercially sensitive – the Government cannot comment on these matters at this stage.
Asked by: Lord Marlesford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the projected cost of £20 billion for the construction of the Sizewell C nuclear power station; and what is the likelihood of that figure being exceeded.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In 2016, the Government negotiated the Contract for Difference for Hinkley Point C which fixes the cost of electricity provided by Hinkley Point C. There is no cost to the consumer until Hinkley Point C starts to produce electricity. The strike price is £92.50 per Megawatt-hour. The household bill impact depends on a variety of factors such as the future electricity generation mix, wholesale gas price, wholesale electricity price and decarbonisation pathway.
The Government is a co-shareholder in the Sizewell C project company with EDF. The Government has committed to invest c.£1.2bn in Sizewell C’s development. The project has been designated to benefit from the new Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model for nuclear, which will entail a levy on all licensed electricity suppliers in Great Britain; suppliers may choose to pass those costs to their consumers. The RAB model will include incentives on cost and schedule control, with the exact details finalised at the project’s Final Investment Decision.
The capital costs for Sizewell C are commercially sensitive, and subject to ongoing development and a live equity raise. We are therefore unable to discuss this further at this time.
Asked by: Ashley Dalton (Labour - West Lancashire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent estimate her Department has made of when the (a) Hinkley and (b) Sizewell nuclear power plant will be operational.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
EDF is the lead investor at Hinkley Point C and they have provided a target date for commercial operations for Unit Reactor 1 of June 2027, with Unit Reactor 2 following a year later in June 2028. Both units have a risk of a delay of 15 months. We expect Sizewell C to be generating power from the mid-2030s, subject to ongoing project development and the timing of a Final Investment Decision.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make it her policy to sign affordable power purchase agreements with Sizewell C nuclear power station.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government – with its co-shareholder, EDF – is developing the Sizewell C project on the basis of using the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model for nuclear. The Sizewell C Company’s trading methods under the RAB model would be regulated by Ofgem throughout the duration of the project’s licence. Ofgem’s principal objective is to protect the interests of all existing and future electricity consumers.
New nuclear projects are crucial to help deliver a clean and secure electricity system that is also lower-cost to consumers. Government analysis has shown that Sizewell C is likely to result in value for money, by reducing costs to consumers in a low-carbon electricity system and improving the security of supply.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 19 September 2023 to Question 199094 on Sizewell C Power Station: Construction, what the expected value of the Government’s shareholding in Sizewell C is in the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government became an equal-shareholder in the Sizewell C project with EDF in November 2022, following an historic investment of c.£700m. This Summer the Government has invested a further £511m in the project.
The value of the Government’s shareholding in the financial year 2023-24 is subject to the outcome of the equity raise process started on September 11th 2023, as well as to the project’s wider development. Both of these processes are ongoing and commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2023 to Question 195847 on Sizewell C Power Station: Construction, if she will issue a breakdown of all Sizewell C projects the Government has provided public investment for in financial year 2021-22; and what the Government's planned expenditure on Sizewell C in financial year 2022-2023 is.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
For financial year 2021-22, an investment of £100m by EDF in the Sizewell C project in January 2022 was provided by the Government through the Combined Option Agreement. In the same financial year, the Government provided a further £0.24m of innovation funding in 2021/22 to Sizewell C, together with partner organisations, through Phase 1 of the Direct Air Capture and other Greenhouse Gas Removal technologies competition, part of the Government’s Net Zero Innovation Portfolio.
In the financial year 2022-23, the Government’s planned expenditure on developing the Sizewell C project is £860m, with a further £0.5m provided as part of Phase 2 of the Direct Air Capture and other Greenhouse Gas Removal technologies competition.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that prospective investors in the proposed Sizewell C nuclear power plant undergo strict national security checks.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is clear that, whilst we welcome investment in sectors including civil nuclear, this can never be at the expense of national security.
As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement of 18th September, should any investor’s shareholding in the Sizewell C project reach the relevant statutory thresholds, the investor will be required to pass through the process set out in the National Security and Investment Act 2021, allowing scrutiny of any risks posed with respect to this legislation.
In addition, as a condition of the Secretary of State’s designation of Sizewell C Limited in accordance with section 2(1) of the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Act 2022, the Secretary of State must have the ability to take a special share in the company. The rights attached to the special share are subject to approval by the Secretary of State but will likely be limited to protecting national security interests with respect to the project and complementary to the provisions of the National Security and Investment Act 2021, alongside other, related matters.