Japan’s Hitachi freezes British nuclear project

LONDON: Hitachi on Thursday froze construction of a nuclear power station in Wales due to financing difficulties, dealing a major blow to Britain’s energy strategy and leaving the Japanese firm with a huge bill.

Shelving the project at the Wylfa Newydd plant on Anglesey island off the Welsh coast will cost Hitachi 300 billion yen, it said in a statement.

Britain has put nuclear power at the heart of its low-carbon energy policy, in stark contrast to Europe’s biggest economy Germany which is phasing it out in the wake of Japan’s 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

In addition to Hitachi’s announcement, its Japanese peer Toshiba last year pulled the plug on a nuclear power plant in northwest England. Franco-Chinese project Hinkley Point C -- Britain’s first new nuclear power station in a generation -- is currently being built.

Hitachi launched the three-trillion-yen Wylfa Newydd project after acquiring British-based Horizon Nuclear Power in 2012. The UK government had agreed to take a one-third equity stake in the project, alongside investment from Hitachi, Japanese government agencies and other strategic partners.

But fund-raising efforts fell short. "Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of everyone involved, the parties have not been able to reach an agreement to the satisfaction of all concerned," Hitachi said.