Under the terms of the agreement, NuGen and HM Treasury will work together to assess how the scheme can support arrangement of external project finance for Moorside facility, which is considered to be the UK’s largest new nuclear power station project.
The agreement will pave way for new process to enable access to the UK Guarantee Scheme, which aims to accelerate investments in major infrastructure projects and is a key component of any future financing structure for new low-carbon power plants.
Exchequer Chancellor George Osborne said: "Investment in a new generation of civil nuclear power is part of our long term economic plan to provide Britain with the energy it needs for decades to come."
"The Guarantee Scheme is another way in which we can help companies to make the huge investment that building new nuclear power involves."
NuGen chief executive Sandy Rupprecht said: "The signing of this co-operation agreement with HM Treasury is another demonstration of NuGen’s forward momentum as we power forward with our Moorside project in West Cumbria."
Being developed by NuGen, which is a joint venture between Toshiba and GDF SUEZ, the power station will feature three Westinghouse AP1000 reactors, which will jointly provide 3.4GW of power by the end of 2026.
The first reactor is planned to be connected to the grid by the end of 2024 and the project’s Final Investment Decision (FID) will be made in 2018.
