HSBC leads Sizewell C investment push as time ticks on final investment decision

Britain’s largest bank by market capitalisation is trying to rally an effort to push a final investment decision over the line for the delayed Sizewell C nuclear super project.

According to a Bloomberg report today, HSBC is discussing the possibility with investment funds to provide a debt facility that would be guaranteed by the UK’s export finance agency.

The report said that people familiar with the matter said the move would help the project, Sizewell C, which in January received government approval to begin the process of building the site, due to take nine years to complete.

But delays have come thick and fast due to inflationary cost rises and the logistical challenges involved with building a massive nuclear power station, so much so that the project is now scoped for a bill with the potential to reach £40bn.

The UK government is working in tandem with Barclays to find equity investors for the project in the hope of reaching a final investment decision this year, with gas giant Centrica having declared an interest.

Sizewell C was proposed by a consortium of EDF Energy and China General Nuclear Power Group, which own 80 per cent and 20 per cent of the project respectively.

The site, along with the also-delayed multi-billion pound Hinkley Point C and another planned major reactor that was unveiled in the nuclear strategy back in January, will form the backbone of the UK’s nuclear energy drive.

Complimenting the large projects, which are estimated to be able to provide power for around six million people each, are small module reactor programmes to be taken up by private investors.

In recent months, the UK government has reportedly been wooing the United Arab Emirates to step in to help fund Sizewell C in place of China.

However the National Security & Investment Act 2021 and the National Security Act 2023 could prove barriers to any foreign state gaining influence through investment in critical infrastructure.

In Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Spring Budget last week, he announced a £160m deal with Japanese technology giant Hitachi to buy back two sites on which the latter had committed to build power stations.