Ynys Môn: Economy

Lord Grantchester Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

The national thermal hydraulics facility is a key part of the nuclear sector deal and would indeed bring jobs and investment to Anglesey. The issue is very live at present. Collective and separate discussions are taking place between BEIS, the Welsh Government, the UKAEA, Rolls-Royce, whose SMR design is pivotal in this decision-making process, and the Menai Science Park, which would host the hydraulics centre. The technical needs of the Rolls-Royce SMR are being worked into a redesign of the proposed facility, but issues still remain over the height-planning restrictions, extra funding and future financing requirements of the facility. Perhaps all the parties can dig deep.

[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

I heard the referee got man of the match. Is Shearwater Energy, which could be generating power by late 2027, under consideration? The energy White Paper announced £385 million for the advanced nuclear fund to support the development of both SMRs and AMRs, with up to £215 million of investment to develop a domestic SMR design. Does the Minister champion a large sum of this funding to support a small hybrid reactor at Wylfa on Anglesey?

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

The Shearwater design is indeed an imaginative use of Ynys Môn’s unrivalled potential for generating power, both nuclear and in offshore wind; the Shearwater proposal as I understand it combines both, with an interconnector. The Government remain open to discussing well-developed proposals from all developers for the Wylfa site, and I believe the team has had some discussions with officials in BEIS.