Nuclear: Hitachi ‘withdraws’ from £ 20bn Wylfa project



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The Wylfa Nuclear Power Plant in Cemaes Bay, Anglesey, North Wales.Image copyright
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The new Wylfa Power Station was to be built alongside the old Anglesey Power Station.

Plans for a £ 15 to £ 20bn nuclear power plant in Wales have been scrapped.

Work on the Wylfa Newydd project in Anglesey was suspended in January last year due to rising costs after Hitachi failed to reach a funding deal with the UK government.

The Isle of Anglesey council said the company had confirmed in writing that it was withdrawing from the project.

Council leader Llinos Medi said: “This is very disappointing, especially at such a difficult time economically.”

Hitachi shelved the scheme, the largest energy project ever proposed in Wales, for funding reasons.

The Anglesey board said it had received a letter from the Tokyo-based parent company confirming its decision.

Developer Horizon Nuclear, which is owned by Hitachi, said it would not comment.

The UK government also declined to comment, but the Wales Affairs Committee has said that the withdrawal of the Wylfa nuclear power project is “a blow to Wales and the UK’s ambition to achieve net zero carbon emissions for 2050 “.

“This was to be the largest energy project Wales had ever seen with a positive impact on skills and employment in the region,” said committee chair Stephen Crabb, MP.

“With the aging of the nation’s remaining nuclear plants and the urgent need for high-yield, low-carbon plants to replace them, ensuring energy security has never been more important than now.”

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Work on Wylfa was to start this year.

Mr. Crabb added that Hitachi had given “guarantees” of its commitment to the project over the summer “that gave hope to the workers that would be needed to build it and the highly skilled employees who would execute it.”

The developers said the plant would create up to 9,000 jobs during the construction phase and have an operational life of 60 years.

Activists against the project, a replacement for the original Wylfa plant closed in 2015 after 44 years of service, welcomed Hitachi’s move claiming that a “nuclear power plant would have endangered lives on Anglesey and beyond.”

Action group People Against Wylfa B said: “It would have ruined the environment in an area that is 10 times larger than the current site.”

He called on Hitachi to “make sure that no nuclear plan happens at the site in the future” and return the site to its “previous state, for the benefit of the community.”

“Proposals to develop green energy schemes would be an area where Hitachi’s expertise could create many jobs here,” the group added.

The Anglesey council has called a meeting with the governments of Wales and the United Kingdom to discuss the future of the site.

A two-reactor plant in Wylfa with the potential to power up to five million homes was assigned, but the project was suspended as initial costs increased.

With 9,000 workers ready to start the construction phase, business leaders described the January 2019 decision as “a tremendous blow” to the Welsh economy.

The company said in June that it hoped to obtain additional funding from the UK government to restart the project, but has now thrown in the towel.

Analysis by BBC Wales Business Correspondent Brian Meechan

As one of the largest proposed construction projects in Wales, Wylfa Newydd has faced turbulent times.

The company behind it, Hitachi, has always been concerned about the construction costs of the new nuclear power plant.

The UK government did something to offer financial support to the project, but it was not enough to satisfy Hitachi’s concerns about financial risks.

The UK government also conducted a consultation on plans in which energy customers would pay for construction costs in advance.

The industry has been waiting for months for a result on this.

When the UK government said nuclear power was part of its drive for green energy, the industry thought it was a positive sign for Wylfa Newydd.

But critics question how green nuclear power really is, not to mention how safe it is.

Wales has been called the ‘land of artists’ prints’ with many great plans being talked about and never happening.

Wylfa Newydd’s supporters will be concerned that he will become another one of those, while his critics will be delighted to see the back of the plans.

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Economist Edward Jones said people were learning new skills in hopes of finding work at Wylfa Newydd.

The decision will have “a big effect on the economy,” according to Edward Jones, an economics professor at Bangor University.

“We currently feel that the effect of Covid-19 and Brexit is just around the corner, and we will feel the negative impact of that on the economy,” he said.

“A lot of people were investing in learning new skills with the idea of ​​getting a job at Wylfa.

“We know that companies are investing in new production methods to become part of the nuclear power plant supply chain.

“The challenge now is to find other projects that can make use of these skills.”

Jones said other energy projects on the island, such as the Morlais tidal power plan, could take advantage of the investment already made.

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