Hitachi, Ltd. and the British government have reached a basic agreement to begin negotiations on construction of a nuclear power plant in Britain, Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark said in Parliament.
"This is an important next step for the project, although no decision has been yet taken to proceed," Clark told Parliament on Monday.
Regarding the public assistance that Hitachi has requested, Clark said, "The [British] government will be considering direct investment alongside Hitachi, and the Japanese government agencies and other parties."
In response to Clark's statement, Hitachi announced Tuesday that the company "has welcomed the statement ... which indicates progress in the discussions to date between the parties."
At one time, Hitachi was considering withdrawing from the project due to ballooning costs.
However, it decided to stay the course after the British government expressed a positive stance toward financial assistance.
The two sides aim to reach a final agreement by the end of the year.
Hitachi has developed proposals to build two reactors on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, hoping to start the operations in the first half of the 2020s.
Hitachi's subsidiary Horizon Nuclear Power Ltd. is the project's developer.
According to sources, a possible scenario is that the British side will shoulder more than 2 trillion yen of the total project cost of over 3 trillion yen.
The remaining 900 billion yen will be covered by Hitachi; the British government and British firms; and financial institutions affiliated with the Japanese government.
The three camps will provide 300 billion yen each.
However, this framework may change during further negotiations.
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