In his last First Minister’s Questions, Carwyn Jones was questioned by North Wales Assembly Member, Mark Isherwood, yesterday over the the future of the £20bn Wylfa Newydd nuclear plant on Anglesey.
Reports in Japan this week have raised questions over the future of the nuclear plant with claims that the project’s main backer Hitachi could be set to back out.
Raising the matter with the First Minister, Mr Isherwood said:
“I was pleased to attend and speak at the 28 September 'Anglesey Says No To Pylons' public meeting at Menai Bridge, to discuss the next step, now that the National Grid had submitted the application for Development Consent to the Planning Inspectorate. As I said, ‘there are cost advantages to the pylon proposals, but that does not take away from the general argument in favour of burying cables in areas of great natural beauty and helping the local economy as much as possible’.
“However, all this is predicated essentially on Wylfa, and Wylfa Newydd going forward. What engagement or discussion has your Government had further to coverage yesterday indicating that there was now speculation, and that the board of Hitachi would be meeting in Japan today to discuss this issue, because of concerns about projections of future increases in construction costs?”
The First Minister replied: “I am aware, of course, of the press speculation regarding Hitachi's investment. It is press speculation. It is a complicated process. Horizon has been in formal negotiations with the UK Government since the Secretary of State's positive statement in June this year regarding the financing of Wylfa Newydd, in a way, of course, which works both for investors and the UK electricity market. There is nothing beyond the press speculation to suggest that the project is at risk in any way, but, of course, we will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
Mr Isherwood added: ‘Hitachi-Horizon has been in formal negotiations with the UK Government since June regarding financing of the Wylfa Newydd Project. Let us hope that that these reports are just part of their negotiating strategy and that a solution is delivered which meets the needs of both electricity consumers and investors.”