The Sizewell C nuclear power station is an energy project being developed in Suffolk, England. It aims to construct a nuclear facility with a capacity of 3,200 MWe, featuring two EPR reactors. It is a collaboration primarily between EDF Energy and the UK government, with additional investments from other stakeholders like British gas company, Centrica, who has also recently entered into a deal to deploy the UK’s first Advance Modular Reactors (AMRs) at Hartlepool with US-based X-Energy.
Reported July 24, 2025 – The UK government signs deal worth over £38bn with private investors to back Britain’s biggest nuclear project in a generation, the Sizewell C Nuclear Project. This also gives the final green-light for the construction of the nuclear project.
The long-awaited multibillion-pound deal is being paid through taxes and energy bills. The cost for the nuclear project has also almost doubled from since it was first proposed.
EDF also revealed plans to invest £1.1 billion in the Sizewell C nuclear power plant earlier the same month. Consequently, EDF stake in the project will be at 12.5%, while the UK government retains majority ownership thanks to its previously announced £14.2 billion investment.
Sizewell C Nuclear Project Factsheet
Location: Suffolk coast, England
Capacity: Sizewell C is expected to generate 3.2 GW of electricity. Enough to power approximately 6 million homes
Technology: The project will utilize two EPR reactors. This is similar to the design of Hinkley Point C. It will enable efficiency and save on costs based on lessons learned from the sister nuclear plant.
Project Timeline:
- Development Consent Order (DCO) approved: July 20, 2022
- Groundworks commenced: January 15, 2024
- Final Investment Decision (FID) reached: July 22, 2025
- Construction duration: Expected to take between nine and twelve years
- Operational date: Expected in the 2030s
The Sizewell C Nuclear project will also foresee a collective investment from the UK government and Sizewell C’s developer, the French state-owned energy group EDF. Additionally, a consortium of three other investors including British gas company, Centrica, will also put its investment in the project.
The project also formed a Civil Works Alliance in July 2025 with three
Significance of the Project
Sizewell C will produce enough low-carbon electricity to power six million UK homes when it commences its operations in the mid to late 2030s. However, an exact start date for the project has not been said by the UK government. Also, the plant will generate 10,000 jobs at the peak of its construction.
It is considered the successor project to the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in Somerset. The costs of the nuclear project have climbed from an estimated £18bn to commence generation of power in 2017 to about £46bn with an expected start-up date in the early 2030s.
Households will begin footing the project’s construction costs from this winter at a rate of £1 a month for every billpayer until the project is complete.
The funding mechanism means that Sizewell’s investors will be protected from the impact of any delays and overruns at the event of its construction. This protection is crucial given that the total cost could spiral to as much as £47bn.
Shares Distribution on the Sizewell C
The UK government’s stake in the project stood at 84% as of the end of last year. Also, EDF stood with a share of 16% share. As per the final deal, the UK government will remain the project’s largest shareholder with a 44.9% stake. However, as for the French utility’s share, it has shrunk to 12.5%.
Additionally other stakeholders have claimed their stake in the project. Centrica will have a 15% share while the Canadian investment group La Caisse will hold 20%. Lastly, the investment manager Amber Infrastructure will have an initial 7.6%.
