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French state-owned energy giant EDF will keep four ageing nuclear power stations in Britain open for longer than planned, in a boost to the UK’s energy security.
The company said two stations currently due to close in March 2026 — Hartlepool and Heysham 1 — will now remain online until March 2027, while Heysham 2 and Torness, that were scheduled to close in March 2028, will stay open until March 2030.
The plants, three in northern England and one in southern Scotland, were built in the 1980s and were originally meant to close in 2023, but their working lives have already been extended once.
The latest extension will help make up for the delay to the Hinkley Point C power plant that EDF is building in Somerset. It is currently due to start generating in 2029 at the earliest, four years later than its original date.
The government needs to find ways to meet rising demand for low-carbon power as part of the push to cut carbon emissions. The government of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is aiming to decarbonise the UK’s electricity system by 2030.
In a report last month on how this goal could be reached, the government-owned National Energy System Operator (NESO) said it assumed at least one of the four nuclear power plants would still be available in 2030.
Under the new timeline, all four will have closed by March 2030, but EDF’s ambition is to keep generation running for longer depending on plant inspections and regulatory oversight.
The new dates represent the “most likely” view of how long the stations would stay open, the company added, though it cautioned there was “a risk” they could close sooner. It announced the move on Tuesday following a board meeting in Paris.
Mark Hartley, managing director of EDF’s nuclear operations, said the company had invested about £8bn in its British nuclear fleet since 2009, and planned to invest a further £1.3bn between 2025 and 2027.
The four advanced gas-cooled reactors are among five nuclear power plants still running in the UK after several closures over the past few years due to their age.
The fifth, Sizewell B in Suffolk, a pressurised water reactor, started generating in 1995. It is due to close in 2035, but could be extended for another 20 years.
Nuclear power accounted for around 14 per cent of the UK’s electricity generation last year, down from about 20 per cent in 2013, according to UK government figures.
But despite efforts to replace dwindling capacity, Hinkley Point C is the only new nuclear power plant currently being built in Britain.
EDF and the UK government have yet to take a final investment decision on a second planned plant, Sizewell C, as they try to attract external investors to the project.
Responding to EDF’s announcement, Fintan Slye, chief executive of NESO, said nuclear power “has an important role to play” in the electricity system.
Ed Miliband, the secretary of state for energy, said the extensions were “a win for our energy independence”.