An online, ebay style auction selling land for proposed nuclear sites has surpassed all expectations.

The bidding for the three sites, being sold by the NDA (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority) went over the £200m mark last week.

This is evidence of the growth in interest in nuclear power, as the renewables sector, and particularly offshore wind, seems to be losing its appeal to the energy giants. Last week Iberdrola announced that it would be cutting it’s investment in UK renewables by 40%.

The three sites for sale are at Oldbury in Gloucestershire, Wylfa in North Wlaes, and Bradwell in Essex. The three groups bidding are: EDF, a consortium of RWE and E.ON, and another group that includes Iberdrola and Scottish and Southern Energy.

They are all sites next to existing reactors, which should make planning permission much easier to obtain. In spite of this, building on the sites is expected to take until 2013, which makes the government’s target of having new nuclear sites up and running in the UK by 2017 seem slightly out of reach.

The auction will continue until the leading bids go 24 hours unchallenged. We will bring you more information when the winners are announced.