A California judge has rejected an environmental group’s lawsuit that sought to block the state’s largest utility from seeking to extend the operating life of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power station.

Friends of the Earth sued in state Superior Court in April, hoping to derail a state-backed proposal to keep the two-unit station running for at least five additional years.

Last year, the Biden administration announced the approval of up to $1.1bn (€1.02bn) in conditional funding for the facility, midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Friends of the Earth was part of a 2016 agreement with operator Pacific Gas & Electric to shutter the station, the only nuclear facility in California, by 2025.