Today, NuGeneration Ltd (NuGen), owned 60% by Toshiba and 40% by ENGIE, made payment to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), as part of a land contract for the Moorside site in West Cumbria along England’s northwest coast, where NuGen intends to build a new nuclear power plant.
This decision was taken after site suitability studies demonstrated the feasibility of the project’s current development phase for constructing three Westinghouse AP1000 reactors. Site characterization work will now continue in the autumn which will feed in to other preparations including regulatory and commercial activities, together with permit applications and submissions for administrative authorizations.
Once these detailed analyses and engineering studies are complete and the permits and authorizations are obtained, a final investment decision could be made by the end of 2018.
This project meets the British government’s CO2 emissions reduction and energy supply security objectives. When in full operation, the Moorside nuclear power plant will have a combined capacity of 3,400 MW, and will meet 7% of the United Kingdom’s anticipated electricity needs and serve six million customers. The first of the three AP1000 reactors is expected to enter into service by 2024.
The land contract deals reflects ENGIE’s nuclear power commitment, expertise and ambitions to bring to the Moorside project the full range of its nuclear operator experience and proven skills in all essential activities up and down a nuclear power facility’s life cycle (engineering, procurement, operations, maintenance, waste management and dismantling). ENGIE is the leading nuclear operator in Belgium with an installed electricity capacity reaching close to 6 000 MW with seven reactors.
ENGIE, major player in the global revival of nuclear power
ENGIE is determined to participate in the worldwide revival of nuclear power and selectively examines ongoing projects, which must uniformly meet the highest standards of safety, financial return, and contractual and regulatory stability.
In addition to the Nugen project, in 2013 Turkish authorities chose the Group, alongside Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, Itochu and EÜAŞ, to construct in the Sinop region four ATMEA1-type nuclear reactors for a capacity of 4,400 MW. Preliminary onsite feasibility studies and successful evaluation of financial, economic, legal and regulatory prerequisites will allow the Group to make a long-term commitment to join as co-investor and joint operator with its Japanese and Turkish partners. ATMEA1 is a 1,100 MW reactor developed by a 50/50 joint venture between AREVA and Mitsubishi.