The head of Areva has announced his company and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co. plan to bid for Horizon Nuclear Power, the consortium of German utilities that recently abandoned plans for 6,000 megawatts of new nuclear generation in the UK.Reuters quoted Areva CEO Luc Oursel as saying his company would participate in British plans for the $24 billion project, likely in partnership with companies from China and elsewhere. He said Horizon's owners E.ON and RWE are expected to chose new firms to take over the project by the end of the year.With Germany phasing out nuclear power, the German utilities recently announced they would sell Horizon, although the British government has since reaffirmed its commitment to new nuclear build in the country. Plans announced in 2009 called for new reactors near recently decommissioned units at the Oldbury nuclear plant and the Wylfa plant, which will see its last operating reactor retired in 2014.France-based Areva's interest follows recent statements by the head of Russian nuclear company Rosatom, which has expressed interest in the project and in obtaining British regulatory approval for its VVER reactor.