The new Sizewell C power plant is a start but Britain needs much more nuclear energy

Source: Josh Freed & Lindsey Walter | · INDEPENDENT · | July 1, 2022

Source: The power plant on the Suffolk coast will eventually provide 3.2 gigawatts of baseload electricity (PA)

This week, UK energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is expected to grant planning permission for Sizewell C, part of the government’s promise to build back British nuclear energy. The power plant on the Suffolk coast will eventually provide 3.2 gigawatts (GW) of baseload, carbon-free electricity and 900 jobs, so long as it receives sufficient financial backing by 2024.

Nuclear investment was a central part of the government’s recent Energy Security Strategy, published in April to address spiralling energy prices and the UK’s reliance on Russian gas. The strategy also outlined expanded plans for offshore wind, solar and hydrogen development.

It is encouraging the government understands the UK can only reach net-zero by embracing all available clean technologies, including nuclear energy. But its ambitions are not even in the correct ballpark. The Energy Security Strategy greatly underestimates the amount of electricity we will need in 2050, meaning the current targets for nuclear and renewables, if met, will only scratch the surface of what is needed.

The government hopes that 25GW of nuclear energy will meet a quarter of the UK’s electricity needs by 2050. So they project just a 32 per cent increase in capacity, as the current capacity is 73GW. This is woefully inadequate and will have long-term consequences for the UK if it’s not increased.