One of the backers of the Thames Tideway Tunnel is in talks to help ­finance the £16bn Sizewell nuclear plant that is being built in East Anglia.

Dalmore Capital has confirmed ­exclusively to The Telegraph that it is in early talks with EDF Energy to take a stake in its follow-up to the Hinkley Point C nuclear project.

The move would see Dalmore add Sizewell to the list of national infrastructure projects it has invested in, including London’s “super sewer” and gas networks across England.

Alistair Ray, Dalmore’s co-founder, said the Sizewell project was attractive.

“The problem to date is that there is too much risk in these projects,” he said. “If the project financing can be structured in a way which offers a fair return for the risk involved there is plenty of pension fund and insurance fund money looking to get into assets like this.” EDF Energy is hoping to ­develop a financial model to support the Sizewell C nuclear plant, which will see infrastructure investors and pension funds compete to invest in the project.

It is understood that there is interest from several of the funds that invested alongside Dalmore in the Bazalgette Tunnel consortium that built the ­15-mile Thames sewer more than 200ft below London. Its partners were Allianz, Amber Infrastructure, and DIF. Dalmore, Allianz and Amber were also partners in the Quadgas consortium led by former Thames Water owner Macquarie, which bought a 61pc stake in National Grid’s gas business, which supplies 11 million homes in the UK.