EDF Announces Life Extensions for Four UK Nuclear Power Plants

EDF (ENS Corporate Member) announced the lifetime extension of four nuclear power plants in the United Kingdom, so as to generate for longer in a boost to the country’s energy security and clean power targets.

The four plants, all operating Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor technologies, are Heysham-2 (Lancashire) and Torness (East Lothian), which will keep producing zero-carbon electricity for an additional two years to March 2030, while Heysham-1 (Lancashire) and Hartlepool (Teesside) will produce power until March 2027, an extension of one year. 

As well as bolstering energy security, the decision also helps limit the UK’s dependence on imported gas, with a further 45TWh of output displacing around 9.3bn cubic metres of gas over the extended lifetimes. That is the equivalent of 62 LNG tankers, more than 20% of last year’s LNG imports.

EDF will invest a further £1.3 billion over the next three years (2025-27) on top of the £8 billion already invested since 2009 to safely extend operating lifetimes.

So far, the nuclear fleet has generated over 240TWh more electricity than expected back then, enough zero-carbon electricity to power every UK home for two years.  

This step also supports the jobs of more than 3,000 staff and contractors working at the sites, and hundreds of companies in the supply chain, but will also preserve valuable skills that will be critical as the UK seeks to re-build its nuclear capability.

Read the full EDF Press Release.

The United Kingdom has currently 9 operational nuclear power plants, with two more under construction (Hinkley Point C-1 and -2) and confirmed plans for Sizewell-C.

Nuclear energy generated 12.5% of the country’s electricity production share in 2023, supplying 37 TWh.