The proposed Sizewell C nuclear power station risks being cancelled unless energy company EDF can secure adequate funding commitments.

EDF, which is developing the project and hopes to replicate the design of Hinkley Point C to drive down costs, is waiting for the outcome of a government consultation into an alternative funding model. The proposal would see consumers pay for the proposed plant in Suffolk while it is still under construction. EDF has appointed Rothschild as financial adviser for the project.

However, according to a report published by The Times, former Sizewell project development director Jim Crawford admitted at a December meeting with Suffolk residents that the project “probably wouldn’t go ahead” if funding proposals ended up “outside an acceptable price range for the government”.

Crawford has since retired and has been replaced by former Sizewell B station director Paul Morton.

An EDF spokeswoman said: “We hope to see a definitive way forward on nuclear financing in 2020, ahead of COP26 [the climate-change summit due to be held in November]. This would ensure we can maximise the benefits of replicating the design of Hinkley Point C at Sizewell C in Suffolk and the project can play a key role in the UK reaching net zero emissions.”

The government ran a consultation between July and October 2019 on the use of the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) funding model for nuclear projects including Sizewell, though the outcome has yet to be released.

RAB, already used in the water sector, sees private investors buy stakes in long-term infrastructure projects, with users paying for the infrastructure through upfront pricing, which is kept under review by the regulator.

EDF’s spokeswoman added that Sizewell C, which it has previously said would provide about 7 per cent of the UK’s electricity when operational, remained on track to submit a development consent order (DCO) in 2020. A DCO is a means of obtaining planning permission for nationally significant infrastructure projects.

EDF appointed consultant Atkins in July 2019 to find ways to cut the cost of Sizewell C by 20 per cent compared with its current nuclear build at Hinkley Point C. It subsequently revealed in September 2019 that the cost of building Hinkley had increased by up to £2.9bn, to £21.5bn-£22.5bn, and that there was an increased risk of a 15-month delay to the project, which is due to begin power generation in 2025.