The government is approaching international nuclear builders & operators for another try at reviving nuclear generation on the island. Britain purchased the site this year from Hitachi for £160 million, after the Japanese firm in September 2020 cut its losses of £2 billion, incurred over its twelve years of attempting revive nuclear generation on the island.

Hitachi had intended to build two advanced boiling water reactors (ABWRs), with a combined capacity of 3GW on a site to the south of the existing Wylfa complex. The company’s plans foundered for reasons including concerns about a Contracts for Difference funding model of their venture.

in December 2015 the second of Wylfa’s two earlier Magnox reactors, each capable of 0.49GW, were shut down, forty four years after the plant was first commissioned.

This morning’s statement by energy secretary Claire Coutinho hails the Wylfa decision as part of the Sunak government’s biggest expansion of British nuclear generation for 70 years. Quadrupling the source before mid century by up to 24GW will be achieved through a mix of large-scale traditional plants and small modular reactors, which are quicker to build, said the minister.

A revived Wylfa will fall in the same supra-3GW capacity bracket as Hinkley Point C and the planned Sizewell C.

The government’s development entity Great British Nuclear, tasked with delivering the world’s fastest small modular reactor competition, recently secured Wylfa and Oldbury-on-Severn in Gloucestershire as possible sites for new nuclear projects. It was the first time the government acquired land for nuclear since the 1960s.

“Anglesey has a proud nuclear history. It’s only right that, once again, it can play a central role in boosting the UK’s energy security”, Coutinho declared.  Wylfa would contribute clean reliable power to millions of homes, she claimed, adding that it could create thousands of well-paid jobs.

Her cabinet colleagu Welsh secretary David TC Davies added: “Alongside the revival of Wylfa, recent measures we have announced include a freeport for Anglesey, £17 million in Levelling Up money for Holyhead and electrification of the North Wales rail line. These show that the UK government continues to deliver for Anglesey and for North Wales”.

Sam Richards, CEO of regeneration lobbyists Britain Remade, added: “News that Wylfa is a preferred site for a new gigawatt scale power station will come as a huge relief to local islanders who are crying out for a new reactor”.

“It’s critical that the planning red-tape that has slowed down building Hinkley Point C, and added huge costs, are quickly addressed by government.

“With the announcement of new nuclear at Wylfa, the case for a third Menai crossing is stronger than ever. The governments in Westminster and Cardiff should now work together to deliver.”

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Through its Electricity Market Reform Settlement (EMRS) division, Elexon will now administer a levy to fund the government’s nuclear Regulated Asset Base (RAB) approach.

Nuclear advocates say the industry’s expansion is critical if Britain is to reach Net Zero by 2050.

Last month power ministry D-ESNZ authorised a change to the Balancing and Settlements Code, which administers regulated payments made between licensed suppliers.  From 29 February, EMRS can for the first time perform the new role of RAB settlement services provider to Britain’s nuclear generators.

The change is authorised by the Nuclear Regulated Asset Base Model (Revenue Collection) Regulations, which came into force in March last year. A new direction widened cross-subsidy powers, allowing nuke developers such as EdF to receive funding from all licensed electricity suppliers, for purposes of funding new reactors.

RAB payments to relevant nuclear developers would be funded by all Britain’s licensed electricity suppliers.  Elexon’s EMRS was made responsible for delivering processes to calculate each supplier’s payments and collecting the funds they owe, according to each supplier’s market share.

Elexon’s EMRS will do so on behalf of a revenue collection counterparty, the Low Carbon Contracts Company (LCCC). The LCCC is an arms-length government agency, which will make the payments to the relevant nuclear companies.

Elexon chief executive Peter Stanley, said: “Elexon is a trusted, independent delivery partner for LCCC, government and Ofgem. We are pleased to be supporting the nuclear RAB scheme, which will play an important part in encouraging development of the low carbon generation GB needs to meet Net Zero.

“We have significant experience in delivering support schemes such as this, as since 2015 we have been successfully delivering similar functions to support suppliers’ funding of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) and Capacity Market schemes.”

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The Planning Inspectorate, Whitehall’s body overseeing new strategic infrastructure, must have an explicit remit towards Net Zero, says the all-party Nuclear Energy Parliamentary Group.

The PI has in the past turned down development of both Wylfa and Sizewell C,  on what the committee brands ‘minor environmental technicalities’.   The PI and related approval bodies must be adequately resourced to meet ‘the urgent need for more clean energy’, say the MPs.

They set out their steps to boost next generation atom-splitting in Made In Britain: The Pathway to a Nuclear Renaissance.  The report’s recommendations are angled to ensure the UK meets government targets for 24GW from the source by 2030.  A roadmap is expected from government before January.

The remit of Great British Nuclear, the public industry body advocated by Rishi Sunak’s administration, is central to the MPs’ recommendations.   They question uncertainties lingering around it, including the extent of its ownership or control of nuclear sites, whether it will apply for or hold individual operating licences, and how it will source funds for the industry.

The body will need to draw on ‘dozens’ of new small modular reactors (SMRs), part-assembled in factories, to secure nuclear’s clean generation potential, the study says. Rolls Royce leads advocates for the stripped-down models, pictured, adapted from its own submarine engines.

National Planning Statements touching on new nuclear must be rapidly updated and adopted, the APPG adds.

Reacting to present government intentions, the report notes Sunak’s pledge to reach a final investment decision for Sizewell C before the next general election, and for two other as-yet-unidentified projects to reach the same stage before 2029.  Even that timeline, in the committee’s view, will “leave Britain 21 years, 12GW and billions of pounds short of our ambition”.

The MPs urge the government to commit to giving GBN the funds to take equity shares in SMR-scale projects as required.

The prevailing regulated asset base (RAB) model, combined with direct equity investment via the Treasury or arms-length public bodies, should be established as the government’s preferred funding model for future projects, they recommend.

Assigning development SMR sites to technology partners as early as March next year will help preserve British technologists’ lead over in stripped-down generation, says the committee, reflecting the view of its sponsors among nuclear operators and manufacturers.

Plans to revive the Wylfa site, closed since 2015, foundered three years ago when Hitachi pulled out of funding new technology.  Selecting the right generation method and appropriate investors for the venture is more urgent than ever, say the MPs.

The site on Anglesea is the best in Europe for a large-scale nuclear plant and “thus ideal for realising the fleet effect of multi-unit replication”.   The government must buy both the site and rights to Hitachi’s proprietary generation technology, in order to fulfil the plot’s potential, says the committee.

Full text of the report is here.

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Nuclear minister Andrew Bowie MP confirmed Methven’s elevation during a visit to West Burton. Methven is pictured left in this group.

STEP is intended to speed commercialisation of fusion energy, and its potential to foster a fleet of fusion powerplants around the world, ensuring the UK remains a global leader in the unproven technology.

Nuclear advocates say fusion energy has the potential to meet baseloads of national  demand, complementing renewable & other low carbon energy sources as a share of many countries’ energy portfolios. Achieving this involves working at the forefront of science, engineering & technology.

When a mix of two forms of hydrogen are heated to extreme temperatures – 10 times hotter than the core of the sun – they fuse together to create helium and release huge amounts of energy.

Minister Bowie described STEP as “the heart of our Fusion Strategy. It’s key to making the potential of new fusion energy a commercial reality, and to drive economic growth”.

Methven joined STEP two years ago from the Ministry of Defence, where he was director of submarine acquisition at the Submarine Delivery Agency.  There he directed the Dreadnought programme, second only in complexity and value to Sunak’s now scrapped HS2.

Professor David Gann CBE, Chair of UKIFS, said: “The appointment of the inaugural CEO for UKIFS marks an important milestone as we strive to generate electricity from fusion, which will provide a huge economic opportunity for the UK.

“I look forward to working closely with Paul and the STEP team to ensure the programme stimulates a vibrant industrial base alongside the development of future fusion skills and the global deployment of fusion energy.”

“Paul Methven will bring a wealth of experience, working to deliver a fusion reactor by 2040 and to cement the UK’s place at the front of the global race to develop this cutting-edge technology.”

Professor Sir Ian Chapman, CEO of the UK Atomic Energy Authority group, said: “STEP has the potential to be a revolutionary programme, but it is highly complex and involves great uncertainties. It needs a brilliant CEO who can manage such complex engineering programmes and grow and unite a national endeavour to deliver fusion.

“In Paul Methven, we have secured exactly that”.

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Splits across the total 56.13 Terawatt hours spanning five months from full November to the end of February show that offshore & onshore wind gave 31.34 TWh, followed by nuclear’s 14.34 TWh.

The trade body says the winter performance of low carbon sources increased the nation’s energy security, avoiding 9.7 billion cubic meters of imported gas, at a saving to consumers it calculates at £15.7 billion, at prevailing market prices.

This winter’s power made by clean sources equates to around two-thirds of gross imports of LNG.

The figures are revealed in the latest release of the trade body’s fortnightly Winter Power Update.

Ana Musat, RenewableUK’s executive director of policy remarked: “These figures show that low carbon power sources, led by wind, played a central role in keeping the lights on this winter by providing the lion’s share of Britain’s electricity.

“Reliable homegrown clean energy is boosting our energy security and saving hard-pressed British consumers billions of pounds in expensive gas imports, as well as moving us closer towards Net Zero.

“Now we need to ramp up the roll-out of new clean energy projects as fast as possible to maximise the benefits of renewables to billpayers and businesses in the years ahead”.

The majority share of clean sources in the nation’s energy mix will sharpen demands today from green generators for chancellor Jeremy Hunt to announce investment tax breaks & writedown allowances as generous to renewables as they already are to fossil fuel sources.

The release does not cover the recent early March cold snap.  Low winds and early spring snows as far south as the Midlands last week prompted National Gird ESO to fire up two coal EDF furnaces held in reserve at West Burton in Nottinghamshire, anticipating Britain’s coldest night of the winter.

The grid operator issued an electricity margin notice, pre-warning fossil fuel generators including at Drax’s Yorkshire station, to warm up furnaces in preparation. In the event, no excess generation was needed.  Nor did NG need to resort to shifting consumer demand across dayparts, as permitted by its demand flexibility service.

Generation stats for March’s first week have gas accounting for 54% of the nation’s electricity, followed by wind on 13% and nuclear on 10%.  Strikes in EDF’s French nuclear plants reduced imports via subsea interconnectors IFA and IFA2.

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