Nuclear projects

Nuclear projects

Introduction

This is an overview of the key content to be found in our Nuclear Projects subtopic. It briefly explains the nature of this content and provides links to it.

Nuclear Projects—content

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Practice Note: The Energy White Paper—an overview [Archived] which has been archived and is no longer

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Latest Energy News

UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy 2025—Built environment aspects

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy 2025—a ten-year plan aimed at increasing business investment across eight growth-driving sectors, following a consultation launched in October 2024. The Strategy is designed to streamline and accelerate investment processes for businesses, while providing greater certainty and stability for long-term decision-making. Key sector plans include the Clean Energy Industries and Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plans. The Clean Energy Industries Plan sets out an ambition to double investment in frontier clean energy industries—including onshore, offshore and floating offshore wind, nuclear fission, hydrogen, carbon capture usage and storage, and heat pumps—to over £30bn annually by 2035. The Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan outlines a target to increase annual business investment from £21bn to £39bn by 2035, focusing on six priority industries: automotive, aerospace, batteries, space, advanced materials and agri-tech. These plans are supported by the Industrial Strategy Zones Action Plan, which brings the Freeports and Investment Zones programmes together as Industrial Strategy Zones, aiming to support regional and national growth and attract over £50bn in private investment into high-potential city regions and industry clusters.

Greenhouse gas emissions under scrutiny in development consent order decision (R (Boswell) v Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and others)

Planning analysis: The Court of Appeal has dismissed the claimant’s appeal in which he sought a statutory judicial review of the Secretary of State (SoS)’s decision to grant permission for a gas power station with carbon capture and storage at Teeside. The appeal focused on three grounds, all concerned with the way the decision assessed and weighed in the balance the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the development. These had been acknowledged to be significant for environmental impact assessment (EIA) purposes and had been given significant weight in the planning balance. The first ground alleged an internal logical flaw in the SoS’s reasoning; the second alleged that the SoS had erred in her interpretation or application of a paragraph of the relevant National Policy Statement (NPS); and the third alleged that the SoS failed to reach a reasoned conclusion since she failed to assess the significance of the GHG emissions against a benchmark or other adequate means of contextualisation. All three grounds were rejected in decisive terms by the court. Written by Harriet Townsend KC, barrister, at Cornerstone Barristers.

Ofgem launches consultation on LDES financial framework for cap and floor regime

Ofgem has launched a consultation on the proposed financial framework for Long Duration Electricity Storage (LDES) projects under Window 1 of the cap and floor regime. This follows the opening of the first application window on 8 April 2025 and outlines approaches to setting cap and floor levels, establishing delivery incentives, and determining competitive assessment methods. The framework is supported by a comprehensive financial model and a detailed handbook for revenue calculations and bid assessments. Stakeholders are invited to submit their responses by 17 July 2025, with the final framework expected to be published in Q3 2025. The initiative is aligned with the government's Clean Power 2030 objectives.

HM Treasury unveils ten-year Infrastructure Strategy with £725bn clean energy investment plan

HM Treasury, in partnership with the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, has unveiled a landmark ten-year Infrastructure Strategy as part of the Plan for Change. This detailed strategy commits at least £725bn to infrastructure investment through to 2035, with the dual aim of establishing the UK as a clean energy superpower and providing long-term investment certainty. It outlines aggressive 2030 clean power targets of 43–50 gigawatts (GW) offshore wind, 27–29 GW onshore wind, and 45–47 GW solar capacity, while allocating £9.4bn for carbon capture, usage and storage projects and £500m for hydrogen transport infrastructure. In addition, the strategy sets aside £14.2bn for the development of Sizewell C and £2.5bn for small modular reactor programmes, with Great British Energy set to invest £8.3bn in clean power projects, including £300m for offshore wind supply chains.