International law firm Addleshaw Goddard has advised the UK National Wealth Fund (NWF), as lender, on the debt financing of the Sizewell C nuclear power station.

The commercial close, announced this week, will see the NWF, which is owned by the government but independently operated, provide debt financing of up to £36.55bn for the project. 

In addition to the debt to be provided by NWF, the UK Government will be the majority shareholder in Sizewell C, alongside fellow investors Centrica, Amber Infrastructure Group, La Caisse and EDF. 

The Addleshaw Goddard team has advised NWF on all aspects of the debt financing of the project, as well as wider support across a range of specialist disciplines. 

The AG team was led by Rory Connor and Richard Goodfellow, with support from Sara Gilmore, Bruce Chen, William Morrison and also included Al Mangan, Mark Crane (Competition), Lee Shankland-Gort, Geoff McGinley (ESRG and green finance), Andy Bates (BSR), Zoe Fatchen (Tax), Alex Hirom (Construction), Josh Dye, Kayode Adeniran, Karen Rowe, Sophie Hiley, Caitlin Biggs, Jordan Cleary, Opeyemi Atawoa, Anna Ai (IPE), Ian Barker (Real Estate), Alice Herbert, Kieran Fano (Construction), Charlotte Scrivens (Environmental), Rebecca Kitson (Employment) and Catherine McAllister (Pensions).

The project is a cornerstone part of the UK’s efforts to transition to a clean power system as part of the country’s net zero ambitions and has been hailed by UK energy secretary Ed Miliband as being part of a “golden age” for nuclear in Britain. It is expected to support thousands of UK jobs and greatly enhance the country’s energy security.

French energy group EDF is leading the development of the two-unit 3.2 Gigawatt nuclear power station. Once built, it will produce enough electricity to power six million homes.

Rory Connor, Partner and co-head of Addleshaw Goddard’s global Power sector team, said: