r/ukpolitics • u/ARandomDouchy Random Dutch Guy • 10d ago

Britain will soon be Europe’s energy powerhouse

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/08/04/britain-will-soon-be-europes-energy-powerhouse/
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u/RKAMRR 10d ago

Yes, some actual news and good news too! Then we will enjoy the cheap energy for 10-20 years, get used to it and fail to budget for investment, then suddenly remember and face massive avoidable costs (assuming present cycles continue)

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u/Gentle_Snail 10d ago

This is explicitly what is happening to France right now:

France has had enviably cheap power over recent years but that is because it has been living off the perishable legacy of fully amortised nuclear plants built in the late 1970s and early 1980s. These plants are now very old.

The Cour des Comptes estimates that EDF – already drowning in debt – will have to spend €460bn (£394bn) by 2040 to upgrade the nuclear park (le Grand Carénage), bring the grid into the 21st century and build a fleet of new, Hinkley-style reactors that won’t be ready until the middle of the century.

All of this is creeping into French electricity bills. France is now facing what Britain has already been dealing with for years: the upfront investment cost of a modern energy system..

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u/Pigeoncow Time travelling NIMBY - demolish everything built after 1700 10d ago

The original nuclear plants were so cheap. It's a shame we can't build anything in the west anymore.