Hitachi Drops $26 Billion U.K. Nuclear Power Project

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Hitachi Ltd. has ditched a £20 billion ($26 billion) plan to build a nuclear power plant in the U.K.

Citing financial reasons, the company has withdrawn from the new Wylfa power station, which was to be built next to the old power plant on Anglesey, in North Wales. The company also has shelved plans for another nuclear power plant at Oldbury in Kent, U.K. The projects were being developed by Horizon Nuclear Power, which was bought out by Hitachi in 2012. In January 2019, Industrial Info reported that both projects had been postponed as Hitachi-GE had been unable to reach a suitable agreement with the U.K. government over funding and the future price paid for the electricity generated. For additional information, see January 28, 2019, article - Hitachi-GE Suspends Two U.K. Nuclear Projects. Wylfa would have had a generating capacity of 2,700 megawatts (MW) while Oldbury II would have been rated at 3,900 MW.

Industrial Info is tracking the U.K.'s only new-build nuclear power project at Hinkley Point C, which has suffered a number of setbacks and price hikes during construction.

"Hitachi today announced that it will end business operations on the nuclear power plant construction project in the United Kingdom ("Horizon Project"), which was suspended in January 2019. Hitachi made this decision given that 20 months have passed since the suspension, and the investment environment has become increasingly severe due to the impact of COVID-19."

It added: "The Horizon Project is a proposal by Horizon Nuclear Power Limited, which Hitachi acquired in November 2012, to develop nuclear power stations comprising of two units of UK ABWR at Wylfa Newydd in Anglesey, North-West Wales, with the intention to develop Hitachi's nuclear business in the U.K. and contribute to the energy policy of the U.K. government, as well as maintaining the business foundation that supports the nuclear industry in Japan .Hitachi decided to suspend the Project in January 2019, from the viewpoint of Hitachi's economic rationality as a private company because it was clear that further time was needed to decide on a financing structure for the Project and the conditions for building and operating the nuclear power stations."

Horizon Nuclear Power Chief Executive Duncan Hawthorne said: "I understand this announcement will be disappointing for our many supporters who had hoped to see our project through to completion and I would personally like to thank you for your support throughout our time on this project. Nuclear power has a critical role to play in helping tackle our energy needs, meeting our climate change targets and levelling up the economy through green growth and job creation. Wylfa Newydd on Anglesey and Oldbury on Severn are highly desirable sites for new nuclear build. We will do our utmost to facilitate the prospects for development which will bring the major local, national and environmental benefits that nuclear can uniquely deliver as we push to transition to a net zero carbon economy by 2050."

The news was greeted with dismay by the Welsh Affairs Committee, who claimed it "is a blow for Wales and the U.K.'s ambition to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. This was set to be the largest energy project Wales had ever seen with a positive impact on skills and employment in the region. With the nation's remaining nuclear plants ageing and the need for low-carbon, high yield plants needed to replace them urgent, it has never been more important than now to ensure energy security."

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