Horizon appoints team to help deliver Wylfa Newydd

Horizon Nuclear Power has today appointed Menter Newydd, a specially created world-class joint venture, to help deliver the company’s lead nuclear new build project, Wylfa Newydd.

Menter Newydd, meaning New Venture in Welsh, is a joint venture of Hitachi Nuclear Energy Europe, Ltd., Bechtel Management Company, Ltd. and JGC Corporation (UK) Ltd.  and will be responsible for the construction of Wylfa Newydd, overseen by Horizon Nuclear Power.

Combined, the Menter Newydd partners have been involved in the delivery of more than 170 nuclear power stations, as well as a huge array of complex infrastructure mega-projects. Hitachi Nuclear Energy Europe draws on Hitachi’s 50 year history of Boiling Water Reactor deployment, including 4 ABWRs, the technology that will be built at Wylfa Newydd, whilst Bechtel last year completed construction of the first nuclear power station authorised to operate in the USA this century, at Watts Bar in Tennessee.

Duncan Hawthorne, Horizon CEO, said: “This is an important step in any large, complex infrastructure project and it adds to Wylfa Newydd’s growing momentum.

“The depth and breadth of expertise Hitachi Nuclear Energy Europe, Bechtel and JGC bring to the Menter Newydd venture will help us ensure the timely delivery of our project, which will be vital for meeting the UK’s energy gap and boosting the local economy in North Wales for decades to come. We look forward to working with the team and continuing to make great strides with our plans.”

Hitachi’s Malcolm Twist, Project Director for Menter Newydd, said: “This is a very strong team. All the partners are proven at the highest level, and I’m delighted we’ve established the balance of expertise to safely deliver for Horizon, on-cost and on-schedule. We expect to begin firming up relationships with our main sub-contractors – many of them British – very soon.”

Bechtel’s Mike Robinson, Deputy Project Director for Menter Newydd, said: “This is an exciting project and a major milestone for low-carbon energy and future jobs across Wales and the UK.  As part of Menter Newydd, Bechtel will bring Wylfa Newydd safely into delivery to cost and budget in collaboration with local communities and our partners.

JGC’s Tsuyoshi Iwasaki, Deputy Project Director for Menter Newydd, said:  “We are pleased to be here on the Isle of Anglesey, working on a project which will contribute so much to local communities, as well as to the wider UK. We bring significant expertise, accumulated through our global experience of EPC delivery, and look forward to helping ensure the safe, on-time, on-cost delivery of Wylfa Newydd.”

Menter Newydd will increase its UK presence in the coming weeks and months, developing construction plans for the Wylfa Newydd site and continuing to build supply chain relationships. Hitachi-GE, which has been operating under a FEED contract to Horizon for more than three years, will continue to provide the UK ABWR technology, under sub-contract to Menter Newydd.

The appointment comes as Horizon continues to make progress across all areas of the Wylfa Newydd project, having just completed a further stage of public consultation in North Wales, recently launched its apprenticeship scheme, and appointed Duncan Hawthorne, as its Chief Executive Officer. Site development work is also continuing to advance and the UK ABWR remains on track to complete its regulatory Generic Design Assessment by the end of 2017.

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