Technologies to generate green electricity follow one of two trajectories. Some get cheaper, such as solar panels, which are small, modular and factory produced. Others, like nuclear plants, tend instead to be plagued with overruns and delays. Nonetheless, the UK’s decision to press ahead with a new nuclear project, Sizewell C, still makes sense.
Much has been made of the project’s potential cost. Hinkley Point C, its precursor, has a dismal record. It will now be ready at the end of the decade, and cost about £46bn to build.
Even if contractors learn from their mistakes and Sizewell C only requires about £40bn, that would put the cost of electricity it produces over its lifespan somewhere between £170 and £186 per megawatt hour, according to ICIS, a data and analytics company. That looks like a lot. Last September, the UK got developers to bid to build offshore wind power by offering them £89/MWh in 2025 money.