Welcome to Grid Brief! Here’s what we’re looking at today: the UK is in talks with Hitachi about a nuclear power plant site in Wales, India Coal sees record profits, and more.

UK, Hitachi Talk Welsh Nuclear

The UK government is in talks with Hitachi about purchasing a site in Wales for nuclear power plant construction in an attempt to breathe life into Great Britain’s nuclear power industry.

This isn’t the first time the UK government opened discussions with Hitachi about Wales.

“Hitachi walked away from plans to build a new nuclear reactor at the Welsh site in January 2019 after failing to secure a financial agreement with the British government,” reports Bloomberg. “The move ended up costing the company £2.1 billion ($2.7 billion), according to the newspaper.”

The conversation with Hitachi has been renewed because the UK rekindled its commitment to nuclear power, aiming to add 24 GW of nuclear capacity by 2050. But the UK is struggling to make headway on its goal. Last week, the EDF said that its nuclear project construction at Hinkley Point will go $13 billion and several years over budget again, putting its price-tag at $46 billion.

Coal India Makes Record Profits

Coal India shattered quarterly profit expectations; it has begun to stockpile for India’s brutal summer season, which has been known to strain the nation’s power supply and cause blackouts.

CI’s profits for Q4 2023 leapt 17% from last year’s final quarter to $1.1 billion.

“Coal India’s shares have more than doubled in the past year on bumper earnings, even as the producer increased spending to add mines and infrastructure,” reports Bloomberg. “Shipments during the quarter rose almost 9% from a year earlier, offsetting a 6% decline in average prices.”

Coal makes up for 70% of India’s power generation. The country plans to add nearly 90 GW of capacity to its grid by 2032, 30 GW of which will be coal.

Correction 2/13/24 (8:56 a.m. CST): This piece originally misstated India’s capacity goals and has been fixed.

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Crom’s Blessing

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