Hitachi deal boost to nuclear plans

The engineering giant is buying Horizon Nuclear Power, which has the rights to build reactors at Wylfa on Anglesey, North Wales, and Oldbury in Gloucestershire, from its German owners E.ON and RWE npower.

In what it described as the start of a 100-year commitment to the UK, Hitachi confirmed that it intends to progress Horizon’s plans to build between two and three new nuclear plants at each site.

The facilities, which could be feeding electricity into the national grid in the first half of the 2020s, are expected to generate power equivalent to up to 14 million homes over 60 years.

Up to 6,000 jobs are expected to be created during construction at each site, with a further 1,000 permanent jobs at both locations once operational.

Hitachi has also signed supply chain deals with UK engineering firms Rolls-Royce and Babcock International and has also pledged to establish a module assembly facility in the UK.