British Energy is inviting potential partners to submit proposals to build new nuclear power stations after the British government backed nuclear power as a possible cleaner alternative to fossil fuels.
Britain's biggest energy producer, capable of providing a fifth of the country's electricity needs, also said it expected to complete repair work at its Hunterston and Hinkley power stations by the end of March, as previously indicated.
It said adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the nine months to December 31 rose to £775m from £462m a year ago, boosted by higher electricity prices.
The British government said it July it believed nuclear power had a role to play in future electricity generation, in part because it produces less carbon than fossil fuels and so would help it meet targets to reduce greenhouse gases.
Following consultation, the government is expected to confirm its policy on new nuclear power stations in early April.
A decision to back a new fleet of nuclear power plants would boost the global nuclear industry as it starts to recover from the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant. But it would also be politically divisive, with environmentalists saying it is too dangerous to consider.
