30.10.12
Hitachi buys Horizon Nuclear Power
Nuclear project Horizon has been sold to Hitachi Ltd by German companies E.On and RWE. The £700m deal will see Hitachi build reactors on existing sites at Wylfa, Anglesey and Oldbury, near Bristol.
Preliminary contracts have been signed with UK companies Babcock International and Rolls-Royce, and the deal should be complete by the end of November.
Hitachi plans to build 6 gigawatts of nuclear capacity and the first plant is expected to be operational within the first half of the next decade. Each site will create up to 6,000 jobs in the construction phase, plus 1,000 permanent jobs once operational.
Horizon Nuclear Power was put up for sale in March, as E.On and RWE moved out of the nuclear power market.
Prime Minister David Cameron said: “This is a decades-long, multi-billion pound vote of confidence in the UK, that will contribute vital new infrastructure to power our economy.
“It will support up to 12,000 jobs during construction and thousands more permanent highly skilled roles once the new power plants are operational, as well as stimulating exciting new industrial investments in the UK's nuclear supply chain. I warmly welcome Hitachi as a major new player in the UK energy sector.”
Energy secretary Ed Davey said: “Hitachi bring with them decades of expertise, and are responsible for building some of the most advanced nuclear reactors on time and on budget, so I welcome their commitment to helping build a low-carbon, secure-energy future for the UK.”
Isle of Anglesey County Council leader, Cllr Bryan Owen, said: “This is an important development which represents a significant step forward in terms of securing a new power station on Anglesey. More importantly, it’s a major step towards realising significant local job creation and investment in the Anglesey economy, as well as wider benefits for the North Wales region.”
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