EDF to extend the operating life of four British nuclear plants

By Susanna Twidale

LONDON (Reuters) -EDF will extend the life of four of its British nuclear plants and invest 1.3 billion pounds ($1.64 billion) in its British fleet over 2025-2027, it said on Wednesday, in a boost for the country’s energy security and efforts to meet its climate targets.

Britain has a target to decarbonise its electricity sector by 2030 and reduce its reliance on fossil fuel gas power plants which currently provide around a third of its power.

Nuclear power stations provide around 14% of Britain’s electricity but all but one of its five operating plants were previously scheduled to close by the end of 2028.

We can’t achieve clean power by 2030 without nuclear, which provides an all-important steady supply of homegrown clean energy,” Britain’s Energy secretary Ed Miliband said in the EDF statement.

French-state owned utility EDF said it would seek to extend the life of its Heysham 2 and Torness plants for an additional two years to March 2030.

The life of its Heysham 1 and Hartlepool plants will be extended by one year to March 2027.

The four sites have a combined capacity of 4.6 gigawatts (GW), and can generate enough electricity to power around 7 million homes.

Centrica, which owns a 20% stake in the nuclear plants said the extensions would help to bridge the gap while more low carbon technologies, such as new nuclear plants could be deployed.

EDF has previously said it would consider a 20-year life extension at its fifth plant, Sizewell B, but no decision is expected for a while since the plant is currently scheduled to close in 2035.

In total it said 1.3 billion pounds would be invested in the five plants over the next three years.

Britain’s nuclear regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation said safety cases would need to be carried out to enable the life extensions to take place.

“Several safety cases at each station are likely to require updating to achieve EDF’s stated ambitions, together with investment in plant to sustain equipment reliability,” the ONR said in a statement.

EDF is also building Hinkley Point C, Britain’s first new nuclear plant in more than 20 years in Somerset, southwest England, which could see some capacity operating in 2029.

($1 = 0.7910 pound)

(Reporting By Susanna Twidale; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Louise Heavens)