The U.K. government and Japan's Hitachi Ltd. have agreed to negotiate for the proposed Wylfa Newydd nuclear power station in North Wales, the energy secretary told parliament on Monday.
The project developers Horizon Nuclear Power, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi, have developed proposals to build two reactors in Anglesey with a combined capacity of 2.9 gigawatts (GW).
'Hitachi's reactor design has been deployed on time and on budget in Japan, and last December completed the Generic Design Assessment process run by the U.K.'s independent nuclear regulator, having satisfied our strict safety standards,' Greg Clark said in an oral statement, adding Horizon had submitted their application for development consent to the Planning Inspectorate last Friday.
'I am pleased to confirm that today Hitachi and the U.K. government have decided to enter into negotiations in relation to the proposed Wylfa Newydd project,' the secretary said.
'This is an important next step for the project, although no decision has been yet taken to proceed, and the successful conclusion of these negotiations will of course be subject to full government, regulatory and other approvals, including but not limited to value for money, due diligence and State Aid requirements,' he added.
The secretary underlined that a key focus of discussions with Hitachi had been and would continue to be achieving lower cost electricity for consumers.
'In line with the National Audit Office's and the Public Accounts Committee's clear findings and recommendations for this project, the government will be considering direct investment alongside Hitachi, and the Japanese government agencies and other parties,' he said.
The minister added the project would serve as a further example of civil nuclear collaboration between the U.K. and Japan, building on a memorandum of cooperation signed in 2016.
'The U.K. is likely to need significant new nuclear capacity in order to meet our carbon reduction commitments at least cost, particularly as we electrify more of our transport and heating,' Clark said.
Therefore, the government will also continue to engage with other developers in the U.K. new nuclear market on their proposals for further projects, he added.
If the Wylfa project were to go forward following this period of negotiation, it would provide around 6 percent of the country’s current electricity needs until nearly the end of the century, while supporting thousands of jobs during construction and operation, particularly in Wales, according to the secretary.
A Japanese daily reported on May 9 that the British government had offered to guarantee loans for the planned construction of the power plant.
The project is expected to cost about 3 trillion yen (about 20.2 billion pounds, or $27.4 billion), The Mainichi daily said, citing an anonymous source close to the project.
According to the report, Hitachi bought the U.K. nuclear station development operation in 2012, and was planning to have the plant operational in the mid-2020s.
By Hale Turkes
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr