Connect with us

Energy

Britain plays down media report of #Hitachi nuclear deal

SHARE:

Published

8 years ago

on

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Britain’s government on Wednesday (9 May) played down a media report that it will guarantee Hitachi Ltd’s Horizon Nuclear Power loans for the construction of two reactors in Wales, writes Susanna Twidale.

British Prime Minister Theresa May met Hitachi Chairman Hiroaki Nakanishi last week in London and asked him to go ahead with the project, conveying the government’s intention to fully guarantee the loans, Japan’s Mainichi newspaper paper said, without citing a source.

“We don’t recognise these reports,” a spokesman for Britain’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said in an emailed statement.

“Nuclear power remains a crucial part of the UK’s energy future but we have always been clear that this must be delivered at the right price for consumers and taxpayers,” he said.

“These discussions are commercially sensitive and we have no further details at this time,” the BEIS spokesman said.

Hitachi’s Horizon plans to construct at least 5.4 gigawatts of new nuclear capacity at two sites in Britain – the first at Wylfa Newydd in Wales, and a second at Oldbury-on-Severn in England.

Horizon said the two projects could generate enough electricity to power 10 million homes and create tens of thousands of jobs.

Advertisement

“There are regular and ongoing discussions between ourselves and the UK Government on the project but we will not comment on the specifics in terms of the participants in, or content of the conversations,” a spokesman for Horizon said.

The Mainichi report said Hitachi is still pushing for the British government to take a stake in the project and guarantee electricity prices to ensure it is profitable.

The cost of the Hitachi project in Wales has ballooned to 3 trillion yen (20.2 billion pounds) due to tougher safety measures, the newspaper said. Hitachi declined to comment, when contacted by Reuters.

Share this article:

Share this:
Related Topics:
Guest Contributor - Opinion

Opinions expressed are purely those of the author and not endorsed by EU Reporter. The article was unsolicited by EU Reporter, and the author guarantees the truthfulness of the contents of the article. No payment was made by EU Reporter to the author

EU Reporter publishes articles from a variety of outside sources which express a wide range of viewpoints. The positions taken in these articles are not necessarily those of EU Reporter. Please see EU Reporter’s full Terms and Conditions of publication for more information EU Reporter embraces artificial intelligence as a tool to enhance journalistic quality, efficiency, and accessibility, while maintaining strict human editorial oversight, ethical standards, and transparency in all AI-assisted content. Please see EU Reporter’s full A.I. Policy for more information.
Advertisement

Trending