Toshiba Corp., one of Japan's biggest diversified electronics companies, is aiming to buy a majority stake in U.K. nuclear consortium NuGeneration Ltd. as it looks to foreign demand after interest at home waned following a nuclear accident in 2011.
Toshiba Corp., one of Japan's biggest diversified electronics companies,
is aiming to buy a majority stake in U.K. nuclear consortium NuGeneration Ltd.
as it looks to foreign demand after interest at home waned following a nuclear
accident in 2011.
Toshiba President Hisao Tanaka on Thursday said the company is in talks to buy
part of the 50% stake that GDF Suez SA has in the NuGen venture, in addition to
its planned acquisition of 50% of the consortium from Spanish utility Iberdrola
SA. NuGen is a 50-50 venture between Iberdrola and
France
's GDF
Suez.
Mr. Tanaka didn't specify the percentage Toshiba plans to buy from GDF Suez.
"Our plan is to hold a majority stake in NuGen," he said. "But
we are not going to take 100%. We would like GDF Suez to remain as the
operator," he told reporters.
The Japanese company, which makes everything from flash-memory chips to medical
devices, is looking to revitalize its nuclear power business following the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, which eroded demand in
Japan
. Interest
in nuclear power has also waned in
North America
because of the cheap natural-gas supply.
Unlike some of its continental neighbors,
Britain
is
moving to expand nuclear power, luring Asian nuclear power plant makers.
Japan
's
Hitachi Ltd. bought 100% of the Horizon Nuclear Power project in the
U.K.
last
year, aiming to build its own nuclear reactors. China General Nuclear Power
Group and the China National Nuclear Corp. are joining with French utility EDF
on a separate British nuclear power plant project.
The plan to build a large nuclear power station in northern
England
also
comes as the
U.K.
government focuses on building nuclear projects to help meet greenhouse gas
emission-reduction targets. Aging coal plants and old nuclear reactors are also
set to be decommissioned over the next decade.
Toshiba aims to build three units of its 1-gigawatt reactor called AP1000
through its
U.S.
unit
Westinghouse. Mr. Tanaka said Toshiba expects the value of manufacturing and
building the three units to be around 1.5 trillion yen ($14.38 billion).
Mr. Tanaka said on Thursday that his company is still negotiating details of
its NuGen acquisitions with Iberdrola, GDF Suez and the
U.K.
government. NuGen wasn't immediately available to comment. On Monday, Iberdrola
said Toshiba would buy its 50% stake in NuGen for GBP 85 million ($139
million).
Toshiba, unlike its peers in
Japan
's
struggling electronics industry, has remained profitable for the past three
fiscal years, helped by strong demand for its flash-memory chips and
power-equipment business.
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