Wylfa site in Wales selected for UK's next big nuclear project
Pamela Largue
Posted on: 24 May 2024
The UK government has selected Wylfa in Anglesey| North Wales| as the preferred site for the UK’s third mega-nuclear power station.
The UK government has selected Wylfa in Anglesey, North Wales, as the preferred site for the UK’s third 'mega' nuclear power station.
The plan is to build a major nuclear power station similar in scale to Hinkley and Sizewell.
The plant, when completed, could provide power for the equivalent of around 6 million of today’s homes for 60 years.
The government has started discussions with global energy firms to explore building the new power plant.
According to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Wylfa, which sits on the North Wales coast, is an ideal location to host a nuclear power plant due to its proximity to cooling water.
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The new project will be located at the site of an old decommissioned nuclear plant. The original plant began generating power in 1971 as the UK’s largest plant running on Magnox reactors. The plant was shut down in 2015.
In March 2024, the UK government purchased the site from Hitachi for £160 million ($203 million).
The UK's dedicated nuclear taskforce, Great British Nuclear, recently secured Wylfa and Oldbury-on-Severn in Gloucestershire as two possible sites for new nuclear projects. It was the first time the government acquired land for new nuclear since the 1960s.
Secretary of state for energy security and net zero Claire Coutinho, said: "Anglesey has a proud nuclear history and it is only right that, once again, it can play a central role in boosting the UK’s energy security.
"Wylfa would not only bring clean, reliable power to millions of homes – it could create thousands of well-paid jobs and bring investment to the local area.
"The UK is delivering the biggest expansion to nuclear power in 70 years and suitable sites will be critical to meet ambitions to quadruple nuclear capacity by up to 24GW by 2050. This will come from a mix of traditional large-scale power plants and small modular reactors, which can be rolled out more quickly and at scale."
Wylfa, together with the Hinkley and Sizewell nuclear plants, will be able to generate 9GW of power in total, enough to power approximately 18 million homes.
The Wylfa project will help the UK move towards its goal of providing up to a quarter of projected electricity needs from nuclear power by 2050.
