Bosses claim Hinkley Point C 'progressing well' amid questions over nuclear station's funding

Bosses at Somerset’s Hinkley Point C have released a video of the project's progress as questions are raised over who will foot the mounting bill for Britain's flagship nuclear station.

In the behind-the-scenes footage, released on Thursday (July 4), nuclear island area director Simon Parsons claims “real progress” is being made at the plant. According to the video, which shows inside Hinkley’s reactor building, workers have started fitting all the equipment "needed to bring the station to life” and make electricity.

It comes just a few months after French energy giant EDF, which owns the plant, said it had taken a near €12.9bn hit to the Bridgwater-based nuclear project - and called on the UK to step in to help fund it. But the British government has signalled it will not use taxpayers’ money to pay for overrunning costs after EDF’s Chinese partner CGN halted payments.

Hinkley Point C has been plagued by delays and spiralling costs, with EDF admitting in January the project was likely to take another four years to complete and have a final price tag of around £35bn. When construction started in 2016, the project was estimated to cost £18bn. It was originally hoped the power station would be completed in 2027, but France's state-owned energy operator has now said it could be as late as 2031.

Bosses have now said a “big focus” for 2024 will be completing rooms in the electrical building, where workers are laying 70 miles of cable to power the plant.

EDF will also be turning its attention back towards ‘unit two’ - its second reactor building. Delays to the progress of the second reactor building have been blamed on the impact of inflation, Covid-19 and Brexit. “Our goal is to catch up after we stopped most of the work here during the pandemic,” said Mr Parsons.

The ring section of unit two is due to be installed “later this year” before the dome goes on in 2025. Bosses claim they are building the second reactor building 20%-30% faster than the first one, using new innovations including a welding method that is four times faster than the first time around.

Mr Parsons also said “every innovation” being used at Hinkley would being incorporated into plans for reactor buildings at its second nuclear project - Sizewell C in Suffolk.

Chinese-based CGN halted payments to Hinkley Point C after it was stripped of its 20% stake in Sizewell C by Rishi Sunak’s government over security fears. CGN has a 32% stake in the Somerset nuclear plant, while EDF owns 68%. After paying its contracted share, the FT reported that CGN has not paid out any more money.

Once complete, Hinkley Point C is due to provide six million homes with low-carbon energy - and could also help Britain reach its net-zero goals. But the question over who will stump up the cash to get the project over the line, remains to be seen.

Like this story? Why not sign up to get the latest South West business news straight to your inbox.