Chancellor announces £160m deal to buy Oldbury Power Station in major step forward for the Severn Edge Low Carbon Energy Park

The site at Oldbury has been long championed by the Western Gateway partnership as part of a vision for a Low Carbon Energy Park.  This vision brings together local authorities, landowners and businesses to champion net zero technology, green jobs and new skills at the Severn Edge sites in Oldbury and Berkeley in Gloucestershire.

The news announced in the Spring budget paves the way for a new generation of nuclear reactors being developed at Oldbury.  A single Small Modular Reactor (SMR) has been estimated to be able to power one million homes for 60 years whilst a UK wide rollout could create 40,000 new jobs.

Councillor Claire Young, Leader of South Gloucestershire Council and Board Member of the Western Gateway said: “The site at Oldbury has long been identified in national policy as suitable for new nuclear, clean energy generation.  This announcement of investment in making that a reality is very welcome.  This will help our journey to net zero and we would expect this project to create significant numbers of high-quality education, training, skills and employment opportunities for local people in the construction, R&D and running of any new facilities.

“South Gloucestershire Council has been working with the Western Gateway and partners to create a shared low carbon energy park vision linking Oldbury & Berkeley as ‘Severn Edge’ which has seen Rolls Royce SMR recently announced as a consortium partner in Berkeley. This announcement is a significant next step in realising our collective vision for energy generation, skills and innovation.”

Today’s news follows the recent £10m investment of a Consortium led by Chiltern Vital Group including Rolls Royce SMR and University of Bristol at the Berkeley Science and Technology Park.  As the second part of the Severn Edge sites, this park encourages connected training, skills, nuclear and low carbon energy innovation to support the delivery of this new generation of nuclear development.

The Western Gateway is the pan-regional partnership for South Wales and Western England, bringing together local leaders, business and academia to create economic growth and reach net zero.

The Partnership published the Severn Edge Vision earlier this year and has been working with landowners and Local Authorities to promote investment in these sites.

Councillor Mark Hawthorne, Leader of Gloucestershire County Council and Vice-Chair of the Western Gateway said ‘This is exactly what the Western Gateway’s Severn Edge Vision was designed to enable. Our vision is of a site which can help develop new skills and clean energy jobs powered by a boost of investment into our communities.

“Severn Edge is ready to be seen as a world leader in new SMR technology and we look forward to working with the UK Government and industry to deliver a greener fairer future.”