Hitachi suspends work on Wylfa Newydd nuclear power station in UK

• 5 years ago (2019-01-18)
• David Flin

Europe 1061 Nuclear 639

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Hitachi has announced that it will suspend work on the £13 billion Wylfa Newydd nuclear power plant in Anglesey, north Wales, due to rising costs. Hitachi had been in talks with the UK Government since June about funding for the project, which was being built by its Horizon subsidiary. The Government said that it had failed to agree terms with Hitachi, which it described as “disappointing”.

Hitachi said that it would also suspend work on the Oldbury site in Gloucestershire “until a solution can be found.” It said that the decision would cost it an estimated £2.1 billion as extraordinary costs. It said that it was suspending the project “from the viewpoint of its economic rationality as a private enterprise.”

Duncan Hawthorne, CEO of Horizon Nuclear Power, said: “We have made very strong progress on all aspects of the project’s development, including the UK design of our tried and tested reactor, supply chain development, and especially the building of a very capable organisation of talented and committed people. We have been in close discussions with the UK Government, in cooperation with the Government of Japan, on the financing and associated commercial arrangements for our project for some years now. I am very sorry to say that despite the best efforts of everyone involved, we have not been able to reach an agreement to the satisfaction of all concerned.

“As a result, we will be suspending the development of the Wylfa Newydd project, as well as work related to Oldbury, until a solution can be found. In the meantime, we will take steps to reduce our presence, but keep the option to resume development in the future.”