Setting sites

An E.ON and RWE joint venture has been confirmed as the successful bidder in the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's (NDA) auction for nuclear land at Oldbury power station.

E.ON already owns some land near to the NDA site and, last month, nominated Oldbury into the government's Strategic Siting Assessment (SSA), which aims to identify locations that could be suitable for new nuclear power stations.

Colin Scoins, director of development at E.ON, said: 'We have already started talking to local people about our interest in developing a new nuclear plant at Oldbury and are looking forward to building on those discussions now we've reached this crucial milestone.'

E.ON and RWE formed their joint venture earlier this year to secure sites for new nuclear development in the UK. Between them, the companies have 20 nuclear power stations around the world, including three nuclear plants that are jointly owned by the two companies in Germany.

The site nomination for Oldbury followed a series of drop-in sessions that gave local people the opportunity to find out more about E.ON and the government's SSA process.

For its part, the consortium made up of GDF SUEZ, Iberdrola and Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) confirmed that it had decided not to make any further bids in the auction by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority of three potential new nuclear build sites in the UK.

The consortium is examining a number of other opportunities for potential sites. In particular, it will be focusing on other sites nominated as part of the UK government’s Strategic Siting Assessment, which was published for public consultation last week.

Some of these sites have to be sold by their current owners in the near future as a result of undertakings given to the UK government.

Full information on the nominated sites can be found at: http://www.nuclearpowersiting.decc.gov.uk.