Government admits nuclear is far too expensive, but will renewables plug the gap?

Analysis: With more nuclear disappointment for the UK, green power is making more sense than ever before, says Josh Gabbatiss

The Wylfa Newydd project on Anglesey was expected to support to around 9,000 jobs when construction activity reached its peak. (PA)

Hitachi has become the second Japanese company in just a few months to pour cold water on the UK’s dreams of a nuclear future.

In backing out of a £16bn development in Wales, it has threatened hundreds of jobs and a considerable chunk of the nation’s clean energy supply for the coming decades. This is despite a “significant and generous” offer made by the government to the firm in a bid to save the deal.

So what went wrong? Business secretary Greg Clark’s address to the House of Commons in the aftermath gave us a clue.