The UK government is committed to a programme of new nuclear projects beyond Sizewell C and will begin a competitive process in April to select the best small modular reactor technologies as it steps up efforts to ramp up nuclear capacity to around 24 GW by 2050.

In a blueprint for the future of energy in the country the government said it aims to fully decarbonise the power system by 2035 and as part of this ambition is setting out a programme for increasing nuclear generation to match global competition.

It said it is committed to providing up to £1.7bn (€1.9bn, $2.1bn) of direct government funding to take the Sizewell C project to the point of final investment decision by the end of 2024 and two further nuclear projects to a final investment decision by the by the end of 2029.

In November the government invested £700m to take a 50% stake in Sizewell C and a further £100m to support project development in January 2023.

The blueprint, Powering Up Britain, sets out the government’s approach to energy security and net zero and acts as an introduction to two further policy documents also published on Thursday (30 March): Powering Up Britain: Energy Security Plan, and Powering Up Britain: Net Zero Growth Plan.