Bangor Mail

FUNDING AND THE STRIKE PRICE

- Plans for Wylfa Newydd on Anglesey

WYLFA Newydd is the biggest investment in North Wales for a generation with the project expected to cost around £12bn and bring thousands of jobs.

But getting the scheme over the finish line will not be an easy task with planning, regulation, and funding hurdles to negotiate as well as a vocal anti-nuclear brigade.

Here we spell out the details of the applicatio­n, the issues that need to be resolved, and current timescales.

At least 2,000 constructi­on workers are expected to be already living within a 90-minute travel to work distance from Wylfa Newydd. Others will be housed in purpose-built accommodat­ion next to the site or in existing properties on Anglesey.

The full power station staffing figure for Wylfa Newydd, once fully operationa­l, will be around 850. Horizon say they want most of these workers to come from the local area. The operating life of Wylfa Newydd will be at least 60 years. DETAILED discussion­s are ongoing with UK government presently, with talks also taking place with the Japanese government.

Horizon says it has always understood it is a basic requiremen­t of success for Wylfa Newydd that they achieve a fair and competitiv­e price for the project.

This will boil down to the nuclear strike price, which refers to the price the government has guaranteed an energy firm per unit of electricit­y produced from its proposed new nuclear reactors.

The government has guaranteed EDF a price of £92.50 per megawatt at Hinkley Point in Somerset. But this figure attracted widespread criticism and it has been made clear Horizon will need to deliver a lower price at Wylfa Newydd.

They say they will continue to work together with all parties to drive costs down and deliver at a price that works for everyone.

Hitachi stated at the very outset on the acquisitio­n in 2012 that additional investors would be required ahead of the constructi­on phase and the process of finding that funding is ongoing.

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 ??  ?? The decomissio­ned Wylfa Power Station at Cemaes where the new plant would be built
The decomissio­ned Wylfa Power Station at Cemaes where the new plant would be built

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