The United Kingdom is set to build eight new nuclear reactors and expand its production of wind energy in a bid to reduce its dependence on oil and natural gas from Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the plans on Thursday as part of an energy security strategy that will see the progress of solar power and hydrogen projects.

“We’re setting out bold plans to scale up and accelerate affordable, clean and secure energy made in Britain, for Britain, from new nuclear to offshore wind, in the decade ahead,” Mr Johnson said. “This will reduce our dependence on power sources exposed to volatile international prices we cannot control.”

The comes announcement as the prices of oil and gas hiked, following the invasion of Ukraine. This has led to a cost-of-living crisis in Britain, as household gas and electricity prices have gone up by 54 per cent in early April.

The British government plans to generate up to 95 per cent of its power from low-carbon sources by 2030. The plans also outline that a new body, Great British Nuclear, will be launched to bolster the UK’s nuclear capacity with the hope of increasing it from 7 gigawatts to 24GW by 2050. 

Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, has agreed to bring three nuclear projects to a final investment decision before 2030. 

The UK hopes to produce up to 50 gigawatts of energy through offshore wind farms, which the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) said would be more than enough to power every home in the UK.