Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said: “Wylfa remains a strong site for vital new nuclear power for the UK. It’s regrettable that this project has been suspended, especially as a considerable amount of groundwork has already taken place on the Wylfa project, including creating a supply chain to deliver the project. …The urgent need for further new nuclear capacity in the UK should not be underestimated”.
Justin Bowden, GMB national secretary for energy said: “Hitachi’s announcement, coming so soon after the Moorside fiasco, raises the very real prospect of a UK energy crisis. … This decision has nothing to do with costs. The planned reactor at Wylfa is not the ‘first of a kind’, and this fact – combined with the government stake – would ensure Wylfa was built at a cost much lower than Hinkley Point C currently under construction in Somerset. The government must act and step in now, pick up the reins and take whatever funding stake and leadership is necessary, to ensure Wylfa goes ahead on time.”
Doug Parr, chief scientist for Greenpeace UK, said, ““Hitachi’s confirmation that no solution has been found for its UK nuclear programme despite already spending £2bn on it tells you all you need to know about the economics of nuclear power. In the meantime renewable energy costs, especially offshore wind and solar, have plunged dramatically, while new smart technologies including storage have arrived on the scene.”
Jonathan Marshall, head of analysis at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit said: ”While certainly a setback in the government’s energy plans, Hitachi’s decision to walk away from Wylfa should not cause alarm bells to start ringing. … In recent years government has quietly cut back its expectations for nuclear new build, and that’s looking more and more realistic as the price of renewable generation falls and the benefits of the flexible smart grid become more apparent. Filling the nuclear gap with renewables would indeed require an increase in rollout, but one that is well within UK capabilities.”
David Oliver, senior consultant at energy consultancy Inenco, said: “The UK must invest in carbon-free generation that can be relied upon whatever the weather, however large storage solutions, hydro-electric projects and tidal lagoons are all extremely expensive options, with long construction times and high risk of overspend – much like new nuclear projects.
This means that small-scale, decentralised generation and storage could play an even more meaningful role in our future energy system, although we would need to avoid the uncertainty that has previously been caused by the removal of benefits and rule changes. We urgently need a Plan B to reduce the risk of lights going out in the next decade and to avoid derailing the decarbonisation process.”