Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 28TH SEPTEMBER - 4TH OCTOBER 2018 | 15 This week Talks under way for stake in Moorside Toshiba in discussions with Brookfield about the sale of NuGen, which was set up to deliver plant Toshiba is talking about selling its stake in its troubled Moorside nuclear project to asset manage- ment giant Brookfield. Utility Week has confirmed a Financial Times report that the Japanese multi-national is talk- ing to Canada-based Brookfield about a sale of its UK nuclear unit NuGen, which was set up to deliver the planned 3GW plant in Cumbria. The talks have commenced since Toshiba stripped South Korean utility Kepco of preferred bidder status in July due to the length of time it was taking to strike a deal. Brookfield bought Toshiba's US nuclear business Westinghouse earlier this year aer the latter filed for bankruptcy due to massive cost over-runs on a project it is building in South Carolina. Acquisition of the Moorside project would give Westinghouse an opportunity to deploy its AP 1000 reactor, which has already secured generic design assessment (GDA) approval from UK regulators. NuGen's plans involve the rollout of three AP 1000s. Kepco would need to secure GDA approval for its APR-1400, a process that could take three to four years. Utility Week gathers that Kepco is still understood to be the primary bidder Toshiba is talking to regarding the sale of NuGen. The two companies are continuing dis- cussions, which also involve the UK and South Korean governments, over the financing of the deal. However a nuclear industry source expressed doubt that Brookfield will be able to secure a better financial deal. He said: "I doubt if they will be able to secure a bet- ter financial deal from the government than Kepco." DB WATER £9 million Thames Tideway Tunnel contract for Barhale Civil engineering and infra- structure specialist Barhale has announced it has been awarded the £9 million main civil engi- neering package at the Barn Elms Sports Centre work site in Richmond, part of the Thames Tideway Tunnel (TTT) project. The contract, which started earlier this month and is due for completion in two years, was awarded by the BAM Nuttall, Morgan Sindall and Balfour Beatty joint venture delivering the west section of the 25km tun- nel. It will see the West Putney Storm Relief Combined Sewer Overflow intercepted at Barn Elms by constructing a series of complex underground structures connecting it to the main TTT beneath the River Thames. ELECTRICITY Orsted sells half of Hornsea Project One Orsted has agreed to sell 50 per cent of the Hornsea Project One offshore windfarm currently under construction in the North Sea to Global Infrastructure Part- ners (GIP) for £4.46 billion. The project is located 120km off the coast of Yorkshire and will feature 174 of Siemens Gamesa's 7MW SWT154 turbines – giving it a total capacity of 1,218MW. It will become the world's largest offshore wind- farm when it is commissioned in 2020. As part of the agreement, Orsted will complete the instal- lation and provide operations and maintenance services from its base in Grimsby. The transac- tion is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2018. The project was awarded a contract for difference at a strike price of £140/MWh (2012 prices) through a one-off non- competitive process prior to the introduction of auctions. ENERGY Drax in talks to buy gas and hydro plants Drax has confirmed it is in talks with Iberdrola to buy a portfolio of gas, hydro and pumped stor- age plants from its UK subsidi- ary Scottish Power. The confirmation follows reports in the Telegraph that it was seeking to purchase the assets in a bid to end its reliance on biomass subsidies. "The discussions are pre- liminary in nature and there can be no certainty of any agree- ment or the timing or terms of any such agreement," said a spokesperson for Drax. "Any potential acquisition would be fully debt funded and subject to shareholder approval. A further announcement will be made as and when appropriate." Moorside: in line for Westinghouse's AP 1000? Finance & Investment Stock watch 740 730 720 710 700 690 SEVERN TRENT SHARE PRICE, FIVE DAY 20 Sep 21 Sep 24 Sep PENNON GROUP SHARE PRICE, FIVE DAY The three publicly listed water companies all saw their share prices fall on Monday aer Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell announced at its annual conference in Liverpool that the water sector would be renationalised if the party came to power. Severn Trent was the worst affected, with its share price down more than 2.5 per cent on Monday aernoon, to 1,830p. 1,900 1,880 1,860 1,840 1,820 1,800 20 Sep 21 Sep 24 Sep 25 Sep pence pence 25 Sep

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