Toshiba Corp said on Wednesday that it would buy a 60 per cent stake for 102 million pounds ($167 million) in a joint venture between French and Spanish companies that plans to build three nuclear reactors in Britain.
Toshiba, as the majority owner of NuGeneration Ltd, the joint venture between GDF SUEZ SA of France and Iberdrola SA of Spain, would move forward with the construction of the reactors at the Moorside site in Cumbria, 400 kilometres north-west of London, the company said.
The three nuclear reactors with a combined capacity of 3.4 gigawatts will be developed by the Toshiba group’s company Westinghouse Electric Co, the Japanese company said.
Toshiba said it aims to complete the deal by June, and after it is closed, GDF SUEZ will hold the remaining 40 per cent stake.
Japan’s nuclear industry is seeking more opportunities to build reactors overseas after the country’s worst atomic disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, triggered by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.