Boris Johnson is expected to announce up to seven news nuclear power stations as part of new plans to reduce the UK’s dependence on Russian fuel prices.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said six or seven new sites could be built by 2050, with works starting in the next few years.
They are likely to replace existing stations rather than add to them, but each will be considerably more powerful, ramping up Britain’s total energy capacity.
Just over 15% of the country’s electricity is currently produced. Britain’s eight nuclear plants, while around 40% is generated using natural gas, which is also used to heat most homes.
One-tenth is imported via the grid. Europe and the rest come from other renewable sources such as wind.
Only a small portion (under 4%) of this gas is imported from Russia, with 8% of the. UK’s oil shipped in from the country.
But around 10% of Britain’s electricity is imported via the grid, mainly from the. EU, which gets around 40% of its gas and a quarter of its oil from Russian exporters.
Many energy suppliers operating in the UK are also vulnerable to profit margins in Europe.
A full new energy security strategy is expected to be unveiled on Thursday.
Ahead of the briefing, Mr. Kwarteng told The Sunday. Telegraph. ‘There is a realization across government that we could do more on nuclear.
‘With energy, you’re thinking maybe 30, even 40 years [ahead]. If we fast forward to 2050, there is a world where we have six or seven sites in the UK.
‘That isn’t going to happen in the next two years, but it’s definitely something that we can aspire to.
“The Prime Minister said, in terms of the energy generation mix, we could see maybe a quarter of that being nuclear.
‘I’d say 15 to 25 percent. But obviously, in the first three years, you’re not going to suddenly have six new nuclear stations in three years. It’s physically impossible to do that.’
It’s thought officials are confident two of thenew nuclear power stations can be built in the next decade.
Higher nuclear power capacity would also reduce the carbon footprint. Britain’s electricity usage, fell by around a quarter from 2016 to 2020 but has since stalled.