Centrica buys 15% stake in Sizewell C as UK nuclear plant gets go-ahead
The UK government has signed off on a multi-billion-pound deal for the Sizewell C nuclear plant in Suffolk, on the North Sea coast, after attracting four crucial investors including British Gas owner Centrica, which has bought a 15% stake worth £1.3bn.
Other shareholders include Canadian institutional investor La Caisse (20%), French energy firm EDF (12.5%) and global investment manager Amber Infrastructure (7.6%). The UK government retains a 44.9% stake.
Chris O’Shea, Centrica Group Chief Executive, said, “The UK needs more reliable, affordable, zero-carbon electricity, and Sizewell C will be critical to supporting the country’s energy system for many decades to come. This isn’t just an investment in a new power station – it’s an investment in Britain’s energy independence.”
Despite opening the world’s first commercial nuclear power station in the 1950s, no new nuclear plant has opened in the UK since 1995, with all of the existing fleet except Sizewell B likely to be phased out by the early 2030s.
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