London (AFP)
The Japanese industrial conglomerate Hitachi has definitively given up on its plan for a nuclear power plant in Wales, which is a severe blow to the UK's ambitions in a sector where Chinese investment is cringe.
Hitachi justified this abandonment on Wednesday in a statement by an "investment environment" which has become "increasingly difficult" because of the new coronavirus crisis.
The Wylfa Newydd project was frozen in early 2019 due to costs deemed too high.
It provided for the construction of two nuclear reactors on the island of Anglesey, in North Wales, where two old plants had closed in 2015.
This future power station, which was to cost up to 20 billion pounds (21.7 billion euros), was to have a capacity of nearly three gigawatts, or 6% of the country's current electricity needs.
The Japanese group threw in the towel even though it had relaunched discussions with the British government this summer, from which it was awaiting the new energy roadmap.
This document could include a new financing model for nuclear power, which would make it possible to shift the initial cost less heavily to the industrial promoter and more to consumers' bills.
But Hitachi chose not to wait.
Its British subsidiary Horizon Nuclear Power announced in a statement Wednesday that it would cease these activities and be in contact with the government to examine the future of the site.
"Maybe Hitachi has lost patience or thinks that the government will not approve this funding mechanism," said Steve Thomas, professor at the University of Greenwich and specialist in energy issues, to AFP.
"Clearly, an important element is the cost of keeping a project alive", he adds, also estimating that Hitachi has not sold a reactor for 20 years and perhaps thinks he no longer has the capacity. to develop this activity in the world.
The abandonment of this project is yet another failure for Japan in its attempts to export its nuclear technology abroad, while the Fukushima disaster in 2011 led to the halt of construction of new reactors in the country.
In 2018, Toshiba also ended another nuclear project in the North West of England.
Hitachi's withdrawal is above all a snub for London, which is seeking to revive nuclear power in the country.
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"We remain open to discuss new nuclear projects with any viable company or investor who wishes to develop sites in the United Kingdom including North Wales", underlined a spokesperson for the Conservative government.
"Nuclear power will play a key role in the UK's energy future and in the transition to a low carbon economy," he added.
He recalls that the government has done everything to convince Hitachi not to withdraw, by proposing to reduce the financial risks by notably taking a third party stake in the project.
For their part, the British Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) and the GMB union have both urged the government to clarify its nuclear strategy and funding.
Different projects must take over from old British nuclear power plants which have closed or are about to reach the end of their life.
Nuclear power supplies around 20% of the country's electricity and the public authorities want to maintain this share, in particular with a view to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
The United Kingdom had identified six sites in 2010 for nuclear projects, three of which were abandoned.
And now the involvement of Chinese CGN in the three remaining developing power plants are raising questions among conservative MPs, in the midst of economic and diplomatic tensions with Beijing.
CGN is notably present, with a minority stake, alongside the French EDF in the development of Hinkley Point, the only nuclear power plant currently under construction in the United Kingdom, in the south-west of the country.
The Chinese is also trying to validate its technology to develop its own power plant in Bradwell in Essex (south-east), but could face strong political opposition.
"If CGN is stuck at Bradwell, he could leave Hinkley leaving a huge funding problem and jeopardizing the future," Thomas warns.
© 2020 AFP