The UK government has announced that Wylfa is its preferred site for the UK’s third mega-nuclear power station and will now launch talks with global energy firms to explore its construction.
A gigawatt-scale nuclear energy plant in Wylfa – an island off the coast of north Wales – has been in the works for a number of years with the project stuck in limbo since 2019, when Hitachi abandoned the project.
The site was already home to a nuclear power station that operated for over 40 years until decommissioning began in 2015. The government is now considering replacing this plant by building two evolutionary power reactors (EPRs), which are based on a pressurised water design.
While there are a number of other potential sites that could host civil nuclear projects, following today’s announcement, the Wylfa site has been earmarked as the government’s preferred site.
The Wylfa plant is part of plans to help the government’s ambition for the UK to meet up to a quarter of its electricity needs with nuclear energy by 2050.
Great British Nuclear recently secured Wylfa and Oldbury-on-Severn in Gloucestershire as two possible sites for new nuclear projects, marking the first time the government acquired land for new nuclear since the 1960s.
“We are powering ahead with the biggest expansion of nuclear energy in 70 years,” said secretary of state for energy security Claire Coutinho.
“Wylfa would not only bring clean, reliable power to millions of homes – it could create thousands of well-paid jobs and bring investment to the local area,” she added.
Gwen Parry-Jones, CEO of Great British Nuclear, said: “Having agreed to purchase the Wylfa site earlier this year, Great British Nuclear looks forward to working with the government on the market engagement programme for large-scale gigawatt providers and also delivering this vital project in the years to come.”
The Wylfa nuclear power station will be similar in scale to Hinkley in Somerset and Sizewell C in Suffolk, both of which are under construction. On the latter site, Sizewell C Ltd, the publicly owned firm behind the new nuclear plant, recently signed a deal with EDF Energy to purchase the land needed to construct the project.
Read our news analysis on nuclear power featured in our March/April 2024 issue that looks at where we are now with the technology in the UK.
Extracted from IET website, read more here