nuclear-news

The government has been working on a RAB-based funding model for new nuclear plants, but a proposal due last summer has yet to materialize.

Under a RAB model, energy regulator Ofgem would establish an estimated allowable cost for the project and set a fixed rate of return for investors.

Payments from UK retail power consumers would be made during construction and operation to a project company, with payments increasing over the construction period in line with cumulative spending.Sizewell C could generate power at a cost of GBP40-GBP60/MWh if construction was funded via a RAB model, Sizewell C’s finance director Julia Pyke said on Oct. 21.

The final cost of power within the estimated range would be “determined by how government allocates risk in terms of

 the cost of money,” she said.

Further details on a funding model for Sizewell C were likely to be included in the government’s Energy White Paper,

Pyke said.In October, 2015, EDF and China’s CGN signed a heads of terms agreement to develop two 1.65 GW EPR reactors at Sizewell C — EDF taking 80% and CGN 20% during the development phase.

Europe’s first EPRs, being built in Finland and France, are many years behind schedule and billions of euros over budget.,…… https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/electric-power/110220-uk-to-approve-new-nuclear-plant-at-sizewell-c-ahead-of-white-paper-report