EDF hopes to operate facility beyond scheduled closure date of March 2028
Heysham B is on track to become the UK’s most productive nuclear power station after producing 300 TWh of electricity, enough to power every home in the northwest of England for 25 years, owner and operator EDF Energy said.
The only nuclear site in the UK to have produced more is Hinkley Point B in Somerset which ended generation in July 2022 on 311TWh.
Heysham B, which has two units and is also referred to as Heysham 2, is one of seven advanced gas-cooled reactor (GCR) stations that were designed and built as a fleet several decades ago and which together have operated alongside coal, then gas and more recently wind and solar sources, EDF Energy said.
Heysham B-1 and B-2 are both 620 MW GCRs. Both units began commercial operation in 1989.
When EDF took over the UK’s nuclear fleet in 2009, Heysham B was due to stop generating in 2023 after 35 years of operation.
Its current end of generation date is March 2028, but EDF’s ambition is to generate further, subject to plant inspections and regulatory approvals.
EDF manages the UK’s eight nuclear power station sites, five that are generating (Hartlepool, Heysham A, Heysham B, Sizewell B and Torness) and three that are defueling, the first stage of decommissioning (Dungeness B, Hinkley Point B and Hunterston B).
According to International Atomic Energy Agency data, the UK has nine commercial nuclear plants that produce around a 12.5% share of electricity production. There are two new EPR plants under construction at Hinkley Point C.
