UK government extends Sizewell B nuclear plant life to 2055

The UK government has reached an agreement to extend the operational life of the Sizewell B nuclear power station by 20 years, securing its electricity generation until 2055. The deal, announced on July 8, 2026, involves a new regulated contract with the plant's owners, EDF Energy and Centrica, and overturns the station's previously planned closure in 2035.

Under the terms of the agreement, Sizewell B will receive a guaranteed "strike price" of £70.50 per megawatt-hour for the power it generates between April 2035 and March 2055. This price, set in 2025 terms and linked to inflation, is structured as a Contract for Difference (CfD), which shields the plant from volatile wholesale electricity markets while also protecting consumers from price spikes. Officials estimated that had such a contract been in place during the energy crisis following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, consumers would have saved approximately £2 billion.

The Sizewell B station in Suffolk is the UK's only pressurised water reactor and currently supplies about 3% of the nation's electricity, enough to power around 2.5 million homes. The extension is expected to safeguard approximately 900 skilled jobs at the...