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The UK’s first new nuclear plant in a generation, Hinkley Point C, is facing another delay and further budget increases due to a combination of factors including Covid-19, Brexit and inflation, owner EDF Energy has said.
Once completed, the power station’s two nuclear reactors are expected to be able to generate enough electricity to power around six million UK homes. It has a projected lifetime of 60 years, but has faced repeated delays and budget increases ever since construction began in 2016.
In 2013, EDF estimated that the plant would begin operations by 2023. It now thinks the first generator won’t be ready until 2029 at the earliest, and potentially as late as 2031. The second generator will take around a year after the first one is brought online to become operational.
Costs have also risen again, with estimates now reaching up to £34bn in today’s prices – a sizeable rise from the previous estimate of £25-26bn.
In a staff message, Stuart Crooks, the project’s managing director, said: “Like other major infrastructure projects, we have found civil construction slower than we hoped and faced inflation, labour and material shortages, on top of Covid and Brexit disruption.
“Running the project longer will cost more money and our budget has also been affected by rising civil construction costs. It is important to say that British consumers or taxpayers won’t pay a penny, with the increased costs met entirely by shareholders.”
The project is currently one-third owned by the state-owned firm China General Nuclear Power Corp (CGN), with EDF owning a controlling stake in the rest of the project. But in December, CGN refused to continue funding the project as its budget spiralled.
Similar nuclear projects being built in both France and Finland have also faced delays and cost increases.
In the note to staff, Crooks noted that EDF had had to “substantially adapt” the design of the plant to satisfy British regulations. This required 7,000 changes and around 70% more steel and 25% more concrete.
Yesterday, Sizewell C, another nuclear plant equivalent to Hinkley Point that is about to begin construction, was granted an additional £1.3bn by the government to allow construction works to continue and support ongoing preparatory works.
Environmental campaigners are currently making efforts to block its construction over claims that the government did not assess the environmental impact of its proposals for a water supply.
