Up to £5.5bn (€6.5bn, $7.2bn) of government money has been made available as part of a subsidy scheme for planned nuclear power plants at the Sizewell C site in eastern England with the new Labour administration aiming to make a final investment decision by the end of the year.

The money will be used for “development expenditure” including enabling works at the site, before a final investment decision is made, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said.

The previous government spent £2.5bn on the project and while a final investment decision is yet to be made, the new Labour government has said it is committed to carrying out the project.