EDF pledges fresh £15bn UK investment as nuclear outages drag on output – UK Times

EDF has revealed that a fall in prices and a prolonged outage at one of its nuclear power stations dragged on UK profits last year, while the French energy giant plans to plug £15 billion of investment into the country over the next three years.

The company said nuclear output from its five active power stations decreased by 12% last year, compared with 2024.

Its Sizewell B facility in Suffolk and Torness in Scotland had a strong performance, but it was hit by an extended outage at the Hartlepool power station, according to the business.

The station, which is in Teesside, started generating power 43 years ago, and provides enough electricity to power around two million homes.

It was given a further one-year extension to generate electricity until March 2028, one year later than previously expected.

But outages affecting one of its two reactor systems was the main driver of the overall drop in nuclear output for EDF last year.

Furthermore, a decline in earnings was also down to the prices it charges for nuclear power being lower than in 2024.

It is understood that average prices were down by approximately 20%.

Energy prices in the UK have been gradually coming down after spiking in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

EDF said that in its UK business, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were £1.9 billion for 2025, down about a third from £2.9 billion in 2024.

EDF’s nuclear fleet provided about 12% of the UK’s total power demand last year – which it says makes it Britain’s biggest generator of zero carbon electricity.

The company said it invested more than £5 billion in Britain over 2025, 30% more than the year before.

Over the next three years, it plans to plug a further £15 billion into the UK across its different businesses – which also incorporates wind and solar power generation.

A large portion of the funding will go towards the development of the Hinkley Point C power plant which is being built in Somerset.

EDF is separately an investor in the major Sizewell C project in Suffolk, which is backed by the Government.

The two developments are expected to provide low carbon electricity to meet 14% of UK demand and power around 12 million homes.

Simone Rossi, chief executive of EDF in the UK, said: “EDF is continuing to invest heavily in powering, supplying and building an electric Britain.

“Our UK strategy is to deliver a long-term nuclear and renewables generation business, and to meet the evolving needs of our customers as more and more transition away from fossil fuels to using cleaner, more secure and affordable electricity.”