The French energy company EDF has expressed its readiness “to work” with the UK government, which recently announced the preferred site for a third mega nuclear power plant in Wales, according to a statement sent to AFP.
The government said in a statement on Wednesday 22 May “We prefer Wylfa in Anglesey as the site for the UK’s third mega nuclear power plant, putting North Wales in a prime position to gain economic prosperity and support long-term energy security in the UK.”
Earlier this year, London announced it was considering another large nuclear power plant in the country, in addition to the ongoing Hinkley Point C project, which is under construction but significantly delayed and over budget, and the Sizewell C project in development, both spearheaded by EDF.
The nuclear group, which launched its third-generation EPR reactor in Flamanville, Normandy, twelve years late, already shows interest in working with the government on this project and offering its EPR (European Pressurized Reactor) technology.
Wylfa, an old plant decommissioned in the 2010s, is an “ideal site for a large-scale nuclear project. It’s up to the government to determine which technology will be used, and EDF is committed to working with them to support this decision,” EDF commented in a statement to AFP.
“Two additional EPR units would be the safest choice, leveraging the skills and experience developed at Hinkley Point and Sizewell,” argued the energy company, which aims to build two reactors per year in Europe starting next decade.
The UK government noted that the Wylfa site, “similar in scale” to the two pairs of EPR reactors, each with a power of 1,600 MW, at Hinkley Point and Sizewell, is “ideally” suited for constructing a new plant “due to its proximity to cooling water” sourced from the Irish Sea.
In its statement, it announced the start of “discussions with global energy companies to explore the construction” of the new plant, which “could provide enough clean and reliable energy for the equivalent of about 6 million current homes for 60 years.”
The government invites interested industrial players to express their interest by “August 30,” as stated in an information note.
The UK, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050, has refocused on energy security since the onset of the war in Ukraine and seeks to accelerate nuclear energy development. This low-carbon energy, like wind and solar, is vital as its current fleet of plants ages. London hopes to meet a quarter of its electricity needs with nuclear power by 2050.