On 17 January, the Japanese company Hitachi announced it was suspending work at the Wylfa nuclear power plant on Anglesey, Wales. Including the suspension of a second Hitachi project at Oldbury, and the decision in November 2018 for Toshiba to pull out of a proposed plant at Moorside in Cumbria, this news means that three planned nuclear plants have been suspended in as many months. The need for a new generation of power plants is important as older coal and nuclear plants approach retirement. Today the UK has 15 operating nuclear reactors, generating approximately 20% of electricity, and 14% of low carbon electricity. These reactors are mostly due to retire by 2030. At the same time, the Government wants to close all remaining coal plants by 2025 as part of decarbonisation commitments. As these ageing plants are coming to the end of their operating lives, new projects are struggling to get going. The Government’s 2017 Energy and Emissions Projections up to 2035 projected a growth in renewables, nuclear power (including after the Hinkley Point C project is complete) and imports. The figure below shows the projections of generation by technology for all power producers to 2035 (source: Updated Energy and Emissions Projections 2017, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.)
House of Commons Library 29th Jan 2019 read more »
