Hitachi agrees to purchase German shares of British Horizon Nuclear Power

A consortium led by Japan’s Hitachi, will acquire all shares of British energy company Horizon Nuclear Power from 2 German power companies. Hitachi will seek British government approval to construct ABWR reactors at the planned Wylfa and Oldbury-on-Severn construction sites with a target completion date in the mid 2020s.

The value of the deal was not disclosed but is believed to be over one billion USD, which is more than twice as much as some analysts had projected the value of the project to be. British Energy Secretary Ed Davey said no discussions had been had with Hitachi as to how much they would sell the electricity for or what the cost would be to the consumer.

As Japan is not expected to further expand its nuclear industry, Hitachi has been working to promote overseas expansion. German companies E.ON and RWE both decided to sell their stock in the Horizon project in March after Germany decided to close all of its nuclear reactors in the wake of the March 11th nuclear disaster. Earlier this month, Lithuanian voters passed a referendum rejecting a proposed nuclear power plant which would’ve been built by Hitachi.

Source: NHK

Source: JiJi Press

Source: Telegraph

Source: The Washington Post

Source: Reuters