UK’s 3.4 GW nuclear project sees deal progress

• 9 years ago (2014-07-01)
• Junior Isles

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Toshiba and GDF Suez have signed a deal to develop the Moorside nuclear site in Cumbria, UK, signalling progress on Europe's largest new nuclear power project.

Toshiba will take a 60 per cent stake and GDF Suez the remaining 40 per cent in the Nugen joint venture set up to develop the project.

The project will use three Westinghouse reactors with a combined 3.4 GW capacity at the Moorside site, which would be able to supply almost 7 per cent of the UK's total electricity requirements

Each reactor would take about four years to build and final investment decisions are expected in four years, according to a Nugen statement.

"The Moorside new nuclear project will bring at least £10 billion of investment and is expected to create up to 21 000 jobs, while also providing a reliable source of low carbon energy for over six million homes," said UK Energy Minister Michael Fallon.

"This announcement is a significant step towards new reactors likely to come online in 2024 and shows how attractive the UK is for investors."

The UK government sees a new generation of nuclear facilities as an important component of its overall energy mix in future decades and a crucial precondition for meeting carbon reduction targets.

There remains substantial questions over project funding, with the European Commission currently investigating whether UK government support for the planned £16 billion Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in Somerset breaches EU competition rules.