France's EDF Energy and Britain's Centrica have decided to prolong the operation of the Heysham 1 and Hartlepool nuclear power stations in the UK by an additional two years, extending their lifetimes until March 2030 (EDF press release, 22/07/2026).
Together, the two facilities provide a total installed capacity of 2.3 GW, with Heysham 1 contributing 1,155 MW and Hartlepool 1,185 MW. Located in northeast England, both plants have already benefited from multiple operational lifetime extensions.
“When EDF acquired the fleet in 2009 all seven Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR) stations were scheduled to be offline by 2023, but a series of life extensions mean four of those stations are still generating with three now in various stages of defueling or decommissioning” said EDF in its press release.
According to the company, maintaining these plants in operation will preserve around 12% of the UK’s nuclear electricity generation in 2028. Over each year of the extension period, the amount of gas consumption avoided would be equivalent to 25 LNG cargoes, representing approximately 20% of the UK's LNG imports in 2025.
EDF holds an 80% ownership stake in the UK's operational nuclear fleet, while Centrica owns the remaining 20% interest in the two power stations.
In 2025, EDF Energy remained the country's largest electricity producer, accounting for a 17% share of the wholesale electricity market.
The UK's electricity mix was primarily supplied by gas, which represented 32% of generation in 2025. Its share has fallen by 9 percentage points since 2021, including a decline of 5 percentage points in 2024 alone. Meanwhile, the share of carbon-free electricity generation has risen by 42 percentage points since 2010, reaching 65% in 2025. This consisted of 30% wind (+27 percentage points since 2010), 12% nuclear, 14% biomass, 7% solar, and 2% hydro. By 2035, the government aims to achieve a fully decarbonised power mix (Enerdata Global Energy Research).
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