Sizewell owner target of £10bn bid

The firm that owns Sizewell B nuclear power plant in Suffolk could be bought up by British firm Centrica.

British Energy (BE) has received a £10 billion bid from the firm which owns British Gas, which has added that it interested in finding a "British solution" for the nuclear power energy provider.

But Centrica is not the only interested firm, with Frence’s EDF, Gemrany’s RWE and Spanish Iberdrola also said to be bidding for BE.

BE’s eight nuclear sites, including Sizewell B, produce about a sixth of the UK’s electricity have received a market capitalisation of £6.4 billion.

The government announced that it was considering selling its remaining 36 per cent stake in the company.

Last year, it sold a 25 per cent stake and used the £2.08 billion raised to add to the Nuclear Liability Fund, which will contribute toward the costs of decommissioning nuclear power stations.

BE’s power stations have decommissioning dates ranging from 2014 to 2035.