Japanese electronics firm Hitachi has acquired the UK’s Horizon Nuclear Power from German energy firms E.ON and RWE, and expects to create 2,000 permanent jobs once its two existing sites are fully developed and operational.

British engineering firms Babcock International and Rolls-Royce have signed memoranda of understanding with Hitachi to develop and operate two or three 1,300 megawatt plants at Horizon’s sites in Wylfa, Anglesey and Oldbury near Bristol. Construction will generate 5,000 to 6,000 jobs at each site, Hitachi says.

The first unit should become operational in the first half of the 2020s, with Hitachi president Hiroaki Nakanishi saying: “Today starts our 100-year commitment to the UK and its vision to achieve a long-term, secure, low-carbon and affordable energy supply.”

The deal should be complete by the end of November.