Town to lead way in next Brit energy era

TEESSIDE has hosted an event to pave the way for what has been described as “the biggest deal in Hartlepool’s history”.

- By SUE KIRBY

The town is set to become the first in the UK to have an Advanced Modular Reactor (AMR) power station - promising to bring billions of pounds to the economy and thousands of jobs.

Nuclear firm X-energy and energy investor Centrica marked a formal agreement at an event on Thursday, hosted by Hartlepool College of Further Education (HCFE).

It follows the September announcement of the project with Hartlepool as the preferred location for the first project.

The new facility will be located at the same site as the existing Hartlepool nuclear power station, generating enough clean energy to power 1.5 million homes and creating over £12bn in lifetime economic value for the region, as well as thousands of skilled jobs in construction and hundreds more for 60 years of operations.