Britain is now targeting SMR and Sizewell C decisions in the spring of 2025

Thursday October 31, 2024

There are currently four technology suppliers on the final shortlist for the UK Small Modular Reactor (SMR) selection process. It is expected that two of them will be chosen to receive government support to roll out multiple units in a selected location. The four are GE-Hitachi, Holtec Britain, Rolls-Royce SMR and Westinghouse Electric Company.

The aim was for the selection process to be completed this year, but the Labor government’s first budget since taking office in July stated that “final decisions will be made in the spring”. Great British Nuclear (GBN), the independent body leading the process, added that it had issued an invitation to negotiate to the four companies, “after which they will be invited to submit final tenders, which GBN will then evaluate” .

Gwen Parry Jones, CEO of Great British Nuclear, said: “Our SMR selection is on track to supply Britain with new nuclear power over the next decade and beyond. We look forward to completing this complex and ground-breaking tender in the coming months to complete.”

Meanwhile a separate one commercial pipeline document for GBN was published earlier this week, suggesting that the acquisition of a project delivery partner for each selected SMR technology supplier would have an “estimated contract value” over 10 years of GBP600 million-GBP800 million (USD778 million-USD1.04 billion). . It gives an estimated tender start date of 2025 and a contract start date of September 2026. It is estimated that a separate contract of GBP 200 million for “Balance of Plant – Manufacture, Supply, Installation” would see the tender in 2028 starts and the contract starts in 2030. .

Tom Greatrex, CEO of the UK Nuclear Industry Association, said: “While it is good to see the UK SMR competition reaching this stage, it is vital to reach a decision as quickly as possible, without further delays compared to the now published timeline. The UK government’s statements on support for SMRs are based on meeting the commitments made today. Delivering a fleet of SMRs for clean, reliable British power and good, skilled jobs is vital for confidence in the supply chain and for driving the wider nuclear ambition.

Sizewell C

Britain has plans to increase its nuclear power capacity to 24 GW by 2050. In addition to SMRs, there are also ambitious targets for new giant power stations – the first of which is under construction at Hinkley Point C. A replica of that scheme with two EPR units is planned at Sizewell C.

In the Budget, in which the UK government sets out its tax plans and outlines many spending priorities, it provided an update on the Sizewell C project, saying: “New nuclear power will play a major role in helping Britain achieve energy security and clean energy.” power while providing thousands of good, skilled jobs. The settlement will provide GBP 2.7 billion in financing to support Sizewell C’s process of raising equity and debt for the project, which will soon enter its final phase and be completed in spring 2026. As with other major multi-year commitments, a final investment decision on whether the project will proceed will be made in Phase 2 of the spending review.

In September it was announced that the Department for Energy Security’s Sizewell C Development Expenditure (Devex) Scheme and Net Zero would benefit from up to GBP 5.5 billion in grants to reach a final investment decision, with the support provided under the scheme is granted consists mainly of equity. injections from the British government.

The EDF-led plan will see Sizewell C get two EPRs producing 3.2 GW of electricity, enough to power the equivalent of around six million homes for at least 60 years. It would be a similar design to the twin-unit power station being built at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, with the aim of building it faster and at a lower cost as a result of the experience gained from what would be the first new nuclear construction project in the United States States is. Britain for about thirty years.

The UK government is seeking investment in the Sizewell C project and last September launched a pre-qualification for potential investors as the first stage of a share raising process. It has also passed legislation through Parliament that enables a new way to finance new major infrastructure projects: a regulated asset-based (RAB) financing model, where consumers can contribute to the costs of new nuclear power stations during the construction phase. Under previous Contracts for Difference, system developers finance the construction of a nuclear project and only begin receiving revenue when the plant starts generating electricity.