LONDON (Reuters UK) - A consortium of energy firms agreed an option to buy a site at Sellafield for a new nuclear power plant as part of Britain's plans to replace its ageing state-built reactors.
The consortium, made up of Spain's Iberdrola, French group GDF Suez and Scottish & Southern Energy, has an option to purchase the land from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) for 70 million pounds in cash.
The consortium said it intends to build a new nuclear power plant with a capacity of up to 3.6 gigawatts and it hopes to begin construction around 2015.
The 470 acre site lies to the north of the existing site at Sellafield, the NDA said.
The NDA will receive an upfront payment of 19.5 million pounds followed by at least 50.5 million in the next six years.
"The sale of this land is a significant milestone in our asset disposal programme and follows on from the successful sale of land at three of our sites earlier this year," John Clarke, NDA Commercial Director said.
French group EDF and a joint venture between German firms E.ON and RWE bought three sites on which to build nuclear plants earlier this year.
(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by David Holmes)
