Hitachi has announced the acquisition of Horizon Nuclear Power from joint owners RWE and E.ON. The transaction is expected to complete at the end of November. Hitachi intends, upon completion, to start on a programme of building new nuclear power plants in the United Kingdom.
Two leading British suppliers, Babcock International and Rolls-Royce, have signed MOUs to join Hitachi to plan and deliver the programme. Hitachi says it expects to enter into c-ooperative arrangements with other nuclear energy related companies around the world.
Hiroaki Nakanishi, president of Hitachi, Ltd. said: “Today starts our 100 year commitment to the UK and its vision to achieve a long-term, secure, low-carbon, and affordable energy supply. We look forward to [working towards] the delivery of this vital part of Britain’s national infrastructure and the creation of a strong UK nuclear power company.”
Hitachi's first task will be to work towards achieving licence acceptance under the Generic Design Assessment process as governed by the Office for Nuclear Regulation. The Hitachi Horizon programme involves building two to three circa 1300 MW plants at each of Horizon’s sites at Wylfa, Anglesey, and Oldbury, Gloucestershire, with the first unit becoming operational in the first half of 2020s. Hitachi will employ its advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR) technology, which has already been licenced in other countries and is the only Generation III plus technology currently in operation. The company has four of these units in operation in Japan.
Hitachi anticipates the creation of between 5000 and 6000 direct jobs at each site during the construction phase and a further 1000 permanent jobs per site upon start of the operation of each site. Preliminary estimates based on past build experience, indicate approximately 60% by value of the first unit will be spent on locally sourced materials, personnel and services, with this rising for future units. Hitachi will invest in transferring its modular construction technology, which underpins the build timetable, by establishing a module assembly facility in the UK. It also intends to work with its partners and with UK colleges and universities to develop nuclear skills training programmes.
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