- New blueprint for UK-France energy cooperation promotes
regional and global energy security, as well as delivering
secure, green, affordable energy for both countries
- agreement bolsters nuclear cooperation, including on new
nuclear and reducing reliance on civil nuclear goods from Russia
- both also commit to tackle barriers to deploying hydrogen and
carbon capture, with agreement also potentially supporting a rise
in electricity interconnection by two thirds
A new partnership between the UK and French governments has been
signed today (10 March), which will help both nations make the
move towards greater energy security by moving away from fossil
fuels and towards renewables and nuclear power.
Under a new deal signed today by Energy Security Secretary and France’s Energy Minister,
Agnes Pannier Runacher, the UK and France commit to further
cooperation on civil nuclear, to capitalise on both countries
ambitions to significantly grow their sectors.
Already, the UK and France have a decades-old partnership on
nuclear power. French company EDF are leading the development of
Hinkley Point C in Somerset, and following an historic £700
million investment announced by last November, the UK
government is a co-shareholder in the proposed Sizewell C project
in Suffolk with EDF. This investment represented the first
state-backing of a nuclear project in Britain in over 30 years.
The statement also commits France and the UK to work together,
along with other G7 leaders, to take concerted action to cut
reliance on civil nuclear and related goods from Russia,
including working to diversify their supplies of uranium and
nuclear fuel production capability.
The UK currently has 3 interconnectors with a capacity for 4 GW
of electricity interconnection with its French partners. Today’s
agreement could also have the potential to support an increase in
electricity interconnection with France by up to 2 thirds,
subject to regulatory approval. Increased interconnection will
support the UK’s ambition to have at least 18 GW of
interconnection capacity by 2030.
Mr Shapps hopes the agreement will help lower energy bills for
consumers, and boost the availability of clean renewable energy
between both countries. It will also see both work to tackle
barriers to deploying fast-developing low-carbon technologies,
including hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCUS), helping create
tens of thousands of jobs in the UK.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary said:
Successful economies need plentiful and reliable energy. Putin’s
barbaric invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated that energy
security can only be achieved by working with our international
friends.
We are already partnering with France through these energy
interconnectors, but we share the ambition to go much further.
Today’s agreement could lead to two thirds boost in our
interconnected power bringing more energy security and
independence to the United Kingdom and France.
The UK has an ambition of up to 10GW of low-carbon hydrogen
production capacity by 2030, which could support over 12,000 jobs
and unlock over £9 billion in private investment by 2030. Today’s
partnership supports this, as France looks to deploy low-carbon
hydrogen for their own power system.
France and the UK have also recognised the potential of working
together on CCUS. The UK’s North
Sea has the potential to store 78 billion tonnes of CO2on the UK continental shelf, which
could be turned into a multi-billion-pound industry, supporting
up to 50,000 jobs in 2030.
Notes to editors
- Read the France-UK Energy Partnership: UK-France joint energy
statement, 10 March 2023 (PDF, 102 KB, 3 pages)
- Ofgem estimates the benefits for GB consumers from all
electricity interconnector projects to date is more than £20
billion, and analysis by the Carbon Trust found that deploying
flexible technologies in the period 2015 – 2050, such as
interconnection, could deliver savings of up to £40 billion
