The closure of four of Britain’s oldest nuclear power stations has been delayed over fears Labour’s net zero drive could trigger electricity costs to surge and lead to blackouts.
The owner of the ageing plants, France‘s EDF, has agreed to extend the lives of its reactors yet again to ‘boost energy security and reduce dependence on imported gas’.
The moves will see the Heysham 2 nuclear reactor in Lancashire and the Torness nuclear power station in East Lothian, Scotland, running for an additional two years to March 2030.
It is the second life extension for the two plants, which both started operating in 1988 and were originally expected to run for 30 years.
And the older Heysham 1 in Lancashire and the Hartlepool plant on Teeside will also have their operations extended – the fourth time EDF has green-light such measures.
The pair have been running since 1983 and were due to close in 2026. However, they will now continue to operate until March 2027.
The nuclear plants earmarked for extensions will remain open following safety assessments on the feasibility of keeping the ageing reactors running.
All four energy-making giants were designed in the 1960s and produce about 15 per cent of the country’s power.
The closure of the stations would have been a major setback for Labour’s plan to decarbonise the UK power system by 2030.
Energy secretary Ed Miliband pre-election promise to slash household energy bills by £300 and make the UK’s power grid carbon neutral would have been tougher to achieve without the nuclear plants running.
Speaking last night about the life-extension of the nuclear power plants, Mr Miliband said: ‘These extensions are a major win for our energy independence – powering up to 11.6million homes for longer while supporting good jobs across Lancashire, Teesside and East Lothian.
‘We can’t achieve clean power by 2030 without nuclear, which provides an all-important steady supply of homegrown clean energy.
‘This will come alongside our backing for new nuclear including supporting the completion of Hinkley Point C, confirming £2.7bn for Sizewell C, and pressing on with contract negotiations for our small modular reactor competition.’
Labour’s net-zero ambitions have already been thrown into chaos after electric car sales targets were blamed for the closure of a Vauxhall factory last month.
Downing Street said an urgent review of the policy will be launched in the coming weeks after repeated warnings that it was putting jobs and investment at risk.
Ministers are expected to drastically water down the plans, aimed at accelerating EV sales in the push to net-zero.
Energy secretary Ed Miliband described the nuclear power plants’ life extensions as a ‘major win’
The nuclear power plant in Hartlepool (pictured), which has been running since 1983 will see it’s life extended to 2027. It was meant to close in 2026
But the shift came too late to stop the owner of Vauxhall announcing plans to close its van-making factory in Luton, putting around 1,100 jobs at risk.
Stellantis, which also owns Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat, said it would combine its electric van production at its other plant in Ellesmere Port.
The firm said Labour’s eco policy fuelled the decision.
Meanwhile, the National Energy System Operator (Neso), which was set up by Mr Miliband to reach the net-zero goal, has said nuclear will be critical in weaning Britain off fossil fuels.
However, delays to new power stations like Hinkley Point C mean the country faces a sharp drop in nuclear power generation towards the end of this decade.
Mr Miliband had pledged to press ahead with his highly ambitious goal to decarbonise the electricity grid despite fears being raised by industry chiefs about the timescale.
The UK’s move to increase its use of intermittent power sources like wind and solar has left the nation more reliant on imported electricity from abroad via subsea interconnectors.
The low wind levels on Tuesday mean the UK had to import 14 per cent of its electricity from Europe.
Chris O’Shea, chief executive of British Gas owner Centrica, which also owns a stake in the four nuclear plants alongside EDF, said: ‘In an energy system that is becoming ever more intermittent, baseload power generation that doesn’t depend on the sun shining and the wind blowing is essential to keeping the lights on.’
The extension of EDF’s four UK plants will help stablise Britain’s energy needs, with the reactors able to produce a combined energy output of almost 5GW.
Mark Hartley, managing director of EDF’s Nuclear Operations business, said: ‘When EDF acquired these stations in 2009 they were all due to end generation by early 2023 which would have left the UK with just one generating nuclear station at Sizewell B.
‘Careful stewardship and around £8bn of investment since 2009 has seen several life extensions for these stations and much higher output than was predicted.’
EDF’s move to green-light life extensions for its sites will need to be ratified by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).
If approved, the plans will support more than 3,000 jobs across the UK.
Energy News Beat