EDF Energy, the subsidiary of the French utility EDF in the United Kingdom, will extend the lifetime of the Heysham 1 and Hartlepool nuclear power units until 2026, or two years longer than previously planned. The two units, located in Lancashire and Teesside (northern England), have a capacity of 1,155 MW and 1,185 MW, respectively. Both the plants have been operating for 40 years and EDF announced in September 2022 that it was considering a short extension due to the the impact of the Russian war in Ukraine and energy price rises. EDF already extended the lifetime of the units by 10 years in 2014. The two nuclear units are expected to be able to generate 29 TWh of electricity during the additional two years of operations, which could allow the saving of 6 bcm of natural gas.
EDF Energy is notably currently developing the planned 3.2 GW Sizewell C nuclear project located in Suffolk County (south-eastern England), whose construction is supposed to begin by 2024.
At the end of 2021, nuclear represented 6.5% of the UK’s total installed capacity with 6.6 GW and 15% of its power generation with 46 TWh. The country plans to get 25% of its electricity from nuclear by 2050.
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