UK

LONDON – May 20, 2016 Plant in Wales will provide low-carbon energy for up to 5 million households Bechtel, the global engineering and construction firm, today announced it has been selected, with joint venture partners Hitachi Nuclear Energy Europe, Ltd. and Japan Gas Corporation, to deliver a new, two-reactor nuclear plant in Wales, United Kingdom […]

The proposed expansion of the Hinkley Point nuclear plant in the U.K., a joint project between French-based EDF and Chinese firm CGN, was thrown into fresh doubts this month as EDF’s CEO said the project cannot proceed without additional financial support from the French government. The hugely expensive project—at £18 billion ($25.5 billion) it would […]

EDF Energy announced on February 16 that it is extending the closure dates for four of its nuclear plants in the UK. Heysham 1 and Hartlepool will be extended by five years to 2024, while Heysham 2 and Torness will be extended seven years to 2030. The decision follows extensive technical and safety reviews, according […]

The Wylfa Nuclear Power Station—the last operating Magnox reactor in the world—came offline permanently on Dec. 30. Located in Anglesey, an island off the northwest coast of Wales in the UK, the plant entered service in 1971. Originally constructed with two 490-MW units, only Reactor 1 has been operating since 2012. The UK pioneered the […]

Germany’s largest power generator RWE, following in the footsteps of its competitor E.ON, plans to split its company to bank on renewable energy and grid operations, which it says is the future for utility companies. If approved by RWE’s supervisory board, the Essen-headquartered company that produces more than 40% of its power from hard coal […]

Editors note: Corrected (Dec. 7). A previous version of this infographic listed Russia’s nuclear total as 1.9 GW. It is 2.9 GW.

The UK has canceled its flagship £1 billion ($1.5 billion) competition to help commercialize carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology from power plants. The decision by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was announced in a three-sentence release to the London Stock Exchange just days before crucial climate change negotiations are due to […]

In a major speech setting out the future direction of the UK’s energy policy, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Amber Rudd announced plans to restrict the use of the country’s coal-fired power stations by 2023 and close all of the facilities by 2025. “Frankly, it cannot be satisfactory for an advanced economy like the UK […]

Westinghouse Electric wants the UK to partner in the deployment of its small modular reactor (SMR) technology.  The Toshiba Corp. group on Oct. 20 submitted an unsolicited proposal that outlines a ““shared design and development model” under which Westinghouse would contribute its small modular reactor conceptual design and then partner with UK government and industry […]

In the UK this August, two massive offshore wind developments were thrown into tumult. A consortium that secured the UK government’s approval in early August to build an array of offshore wind farms in the Dogger Bank development off the east coast of Yorkshire said it would proceed with only four projects instead of the […]