Journey to Net Zero

Sizewell C is committed to helping Britain achieve Net Zero by 2050 and will expect companies joining the supply chain to hold similar values in terms of reducing their carbon footprint. Reaching Net Zero by 2050 – a date the UK Government has enshrined in law – means we need to dramatically reduce our carbon emissions. It means we will no longer be able to depend on fossil fuels for our energy and our lives will increasingly come to depend on clean electricity.

The Committee for Climate Change estimates that demand for low-carbon electricity will quadruple between now and 2050. Wind and solar will play the biggest role in meeting the challenge but we cannot rely on them alone as they depend on the weather.

Sizewell C will help the UK achieve net zero by providing low-carbon power to 6 million homes for at least 60 years. It will replace fossil-fuel energy with nuclear power which is the only proven low-carbon technology that can provide reliable ‘baseload’ electricity to support renewables. In doing so it will avoid around 9 million tons of carbon emissions each year.

Think Local – UK – ‘The Power of Good for Britain’

We’ve made a commitment that 70% of Sizewell C’s overall construction spend will go to UK based companies.

‘Maximising UK Content and Supporting the Levelling Up Agenda’ is one of Sizewell C’s strategic aims, which set out how the project will achieve its vision, ‘The Power of Good for Britain’.

Demonstrating this, Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) are already in place pledging both spend and job opportunities from SZC across Wales (£900 million), the North of England (£2.5 billion) and the East of England (£4.4 billion, of which £2 billion will be spent in Suffolk).

Why?

• It is essential to our social licence to construct Sizewell C in Suffolk that local businesses see the benefit we have promised through the years of consultation.
• Supporting local, regional and national businesses will reduce reliance on imports, create jobs and embed nuclear skills in the UK workforce.

How?

• When developing sourcing strategies, we aim to maximise local, regional and national content (in that order) to help Sizewell C achieve its overall commitment to 70% of the Project’s construction value going to UK.
• All competed tenders should ensure that the Value for Money framework is applied, which requires a minimum 10% Social Value weighting in the evaluation criteria.
• Inclusion of the Social Value Appendix. This requires all contracts to report on UK content and will allow Sizewell C to more accurately assess how it is performing against our commitment.