UK to invest £700m in nuclear power:

Outgoing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday (September 1) that the UK will invest 700 million pounds ($809.13 million) in EDF Group for a planned "plug-and-shoot". Sizewell C" (Sizewell C) nuclear power plant. It was the last major policy move Johnson announced before leaving office next week.

Support the construction of the 'Sizewell C' nuclear power plant," Johnson said in a speech from Sizewell in Suffolk, eastern England.

"We have to do whatever it takes to succeed because it would be an absolutely crazy mistake to not do that," he said.

The timing of Britain's investment in nuclear power comes as Britain struggles to achieve energy independence after the war in Ukraine sent oil and gas prices soaring. The war in Ukraine has left millions of households facing fuel shortages this winter, as Britain struggles to meet its goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

But the UK still has to attract private investment for Sizewell C.

EDF said the plant could cost 20 per cent less than its Hinkley Point C plant in the UK. The current budget for Hinkley Point C is between £25bn and £26bn ($29.9bn-$30bn).

EDF plans to make a final investment decision on the project in 2023.

In the long run, boosting nuclear power production will reduce Britain's reliance on natural gas. Natural gas accounted for around 45% of Britain's electricity production last year.

The pledge to inject state funding into Sizewell will come out of a £1.7bn pledge made by the government last year to fund the start of a new large nuclear programme.

However, the Sizewell nuclear power plant is still years away from being operational. The Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant has faced multiple delays and billions of pounds in cost overruns.

Construction of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant is currently expected to start in 2027, a decade later than originally promised.

EDF said the Sizewell C nuclear power plant project would benefit from being a "near replica" of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power project.

China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) currently holds a 20�velopment stake in the Sizewell nuclear power project. Some British politicians have expressed concern about China's involvement in the country's nuclear industry. London has approved a "regulated asset base" (RAB) funding model, which it hopes will attract diverse backers to the project.

Near-term costs for consumers

Under the RAB model, companies building new plants are paid during the construction phase, reducing their development risk and allowing them to obtain cheaper financing for their projects.

Asgeir Heimisson, senior research fellow at Aurora Energy Research, a UK-based research body, said: "Syswell C will reduce UK electricity prices once it is commissioned by the mid-2030s; but Over the estimated 10-year construction period, the project will result in higher consumer energy bills as some construction costs will be passed on to consumers under the RAB model."

Critics of the RAB model say it will leave taxpayers paying for any cost overruns and delays during construction.

Greenpeace, an anti-nuclear environmental group, criticized the investment.

"The money could insulate homes with lots of air leaks and cut energy bills for next year, rather than throwing it at EDF to splurge and burn up our bills for decades," said Greenpeace UK chief Scientist Doug Parr said.

Britain's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy did not immediately respond to a Reuters request to clarify whether the £700 million investment in the Sizewell nuclear project would have a direct British government stake.