By Jaime Llinares Taboada

The U.K. government has delayed a decision on whether to grant a development consent for the Sizewell C project, a new nuclear power station which Electricite de France S.A. wants to build in the east of England.

In a statement made to the House of Commons on Thursday, Government Minister Paul Scully said the deadline for the decision has been postponed to July 8 from the original date of May 25.

"This is to ensure there is sufficient time to fully consider further information provided by the applicant and interested parties in response to the Secretary of State's post-examination consultation," Mr. Scully said.

The GMB union urged the government to approve the project as soon as possible. "Sizewell C is essential for meeting our energy challenges. We need spades in the ground to keep the lights on and the production lines moving in the medium to long-term," National Officer Charlotte Childs said in a statement.

The construction of Sizewell C is expected to cost around 20 billion pounds ($24.40 billion). The plant will have a generation capacity of 3.2 gigawatts, enough to power around 6 million homes. Back in January, the U.K. government said it would provide GBP100 million in funding to develop the project.

In March, the BBC reported that both the U.K. government and EDF were planning to take a 20% stake each in Sizewell C.

Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at jaime.llinares@wsj.com; @JaimeLlinaresT

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 13, 2022 09:54 ET (13:54 GMT)

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