Hinkley Point C progress shown in UK Government visit

[caption id="attachment_49099" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Kwasi Kwarteng (left) and Nadhim Zahawi (middle)[/caption]

Government ministers from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy have visited Hinkley Point C nuclear power station to find out its progress.

Kwasi Kwarteng MP, Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth and Nadhim Zahawi MP, Minister for Business and Industry met some of the 500 apprentices already hired by the project and saw the huge scale of construction underway in Somerset.

Hinkley Point C will supply the UK with reliable low carbon electricity for decades to come and will be an essential part of a future energy mix without polluting fossil fuels.

The ministers heard about the UK supply chain and the progress on the two reactors. Unit One is now being built above ground and the project’s next major milestone is completion of the base for Unit Two, scheduled for June this year.

Mr Zahawi commented: “Today’s visit was an invaluable opportunity to see how construction is progressing on this vast and important project. Hinkley Point C will provide clean energy for nearly six million homes as well as delivering thousands of jobs, and I look forward to seeing how it progresses in the months and years ahead.”

The ministers also visited Hinkley Point B power station which last week hit a new record for low carbon electricity production in the UK, passing 300TWH, enough to continuously power every home in the UK for three years, avoiding 105 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions.

They saw the National College for Nuclear in nearby Cannington, one of the many initiatives to increase UK skills. These include the opening of a national welding centre at Bridgwater College, due in the first half of 2020.

Mr Kwarteng added: “I was really impressed by the apprentices I met today, who represent some of the best future engineering talent Britain has to offer. Their efforts will be crucial to ensuring the UK remains a leader in nuclear innovation, helping us to eliminate our contribution to climate change by 2050.”

Plans are advancing for a near identical station at Sizewell C in Suffolk. The advantages of replication the UK EPR design means it can be built and financed at a lower cost for consumers.

In the first of a series of video updates to be published online here, Stuart Crooks discusses the progress on site and how the project will transition from the civils phase to the mechanical and electrical (MEH) phase.

EDF is leading the UK's nuclear renaissance with the construction of a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C, and plans for new power stations at Sizewell C in Suffolk and Bradwell B in Essex.

The company employs around 13,000 people in the UK at locations across England and Scotland.

EDF www.edfenergy.com