Sign up to FREE email alerts from NorthWalesLive - Anglesey News Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Wylfa Newydd is set to get a multi-billion pound cash boost from the UK and Japanese governments to make the scheme happen, according to sources in Japan.

It is reported the two governments are set to extend a combined 2.2 trillion yen (£15 billion) in loans and investment with the help of financial institutions to the project, taking a stake in Horizon Nuclear Power Ltd.

This could push the £10bn project over the line after concerns it was in danger of stalling as Hitachi, the firm behind Horizon, attempted to get private investors behind the plant.

According to the Asahi Shimbun news group the loans from the Japanese side will be mainly extended by the government-affiliated Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and three megabanks.

They also say that the UK and Japanese governments will invest billions of pounds, taking on part of Horizon.

Sources in the UK confirmed a deal now looked imminent although Horizon said it was not yet in a position to comment on the details.

Under the plans the two reactors on Angslesey will start operating in the mid-2020s.

Hitachi has previously said it decide by summer 2020 whether to proceed with the project.

This funding model looks set to deviate from that used for the Hinkley Point deal, where the UK Government agreed to pay a strike price of £92.50/MW.

The nuclear strike price refers to the price the government has guaranteed an energy firm per unit of electricity produced from its proposed new nuclear reactors.

But the £92.50/MW contract has proved controversial - with a warning that a similar figure would not be on the table for the Wylfa Newydd scheme.

Hitachi, Horizon Nuclear Power and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy have been asked to comment.

A Horizon spokesman said: "It’s no secret we’re in discussions with the UK and Japanese Governments, and have been for some time, over support for our project. With these discussions still ongoing it is too early to comment on the specifics of what a future deal may look like.

"We’re confident – given the benefits our project will deliver locally on Anglesey, but also nationally and internationally – that we’ll reach a successful conclusion to these discussions in the near future.”