By Nina Chestney
LONDON (Reuters) -EDF Energy will extend the operating life of its Hartlepool and Heysham 1 nuclear plants in Britain by two years to March 2026, it said on Thursday, boosting the country's energy security amid turbulent gas and power markets.
The plants, which have a combined capacity of 2.3 gigawatts and provide around 5% of Britain's power supply, had been slated for closure in 2024, but EDF (EPA:EDF) said last year it would review whether there was a case to keep them open beyond that.
EDF Energy, part of France's state-owned EDF, said the decisions were made after a rigorous review of the technical and commercial cases for the extensions.
"Supplying zero-carbon and affordable electricity, whatever the weather, has never been more important than right now," said Matt Sykes, managing director of EDF Energy’s generation business.
Britain was earlier this week forced to fire-up two coal power units to help ensure power supply amid a cold snap.
Sykes said the two year extensions would save six billion cubic metres of gas and 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Britain's Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) said that while a plant life extension did not require formal approval, EDF would need to produce updated safety cases for the plants, which will be assessed.
"A number of the current safety cases for the stations will need to be updated to achieve EDF’s stated ambitions, together with investment in plant to sustain equipment reliability," the ONR said in a statement.
EDF, which operates all of Britain’s eight nuclear power plants providing around 13% of the country’s electricity, said it had already invested over 7 billion pounds ($8.4 billion) in the UK nuclear fleet since 2009, delivering over 30% more output than originally forecast.
Heysham 1 in northwest England and Hartlepool in northeast England will both mark 40 years of power generation this year and were originally due to end generation in 2014.
EDF added there was a possibility of continuing the plants' generation for a further 12 months beyond March 2026. The estimated end of generation dates for another two plants, Torness and Heysham 2, remain unchanged at March 2028.
Britain has been exposed, along with the rest of Europe, to high gas and power prices over the past year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Britain is seeking to ramp up low-carbon nuclear power generation to help shore up its electricity supplies, while also meeting a climate target of net zero emissions by 2050, and has a goal of meeting around 25% of electricity demand with nuclear power by the same date.
EDF’s Hinkley Point C, the first new UK nuclear plant in more than 20 years, has been thwarted by delays and spiralling costs and is not expected to come online until 2027.
Several countries in Europe, including France, Belgium and Sweden, have announced plans to extend the operating lives of ageing nuclear reactors due to fears about a power supply crunch in the next few years.
Belgium's nuclear regulator, however, advised the government this week against such a move for the country's three oldest reactors.