There is an increasing likelihood that the Hinkley Point C nuclear power project could take longer and cost more than expected.
In a presentation to investors to coincide with its first-quarter results, customer EDF said: “The risk of further delays and budget overruns is increasing.”
Its presentation to investors said about 46 percent of the project’s total concrete had been poured and 14 percent of the mechanical, electrical, heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment had been fabricated. But these two elements arrived late, he added.
EDF declined to comment further on the prospect of rising costs and further delays. But earlier this year it emerged the project could cost £32.7bn, up from the original £18bn expected in 2015. The latest estimated start date for power generation is he gave as June 2027. It was previously scheduled to become operational in 2015. 2025.
The French state-owned energy giant is shouldering most of the project’s construction cost, with its partner, Chinese state-owned company CGN, having a contractual cap on its committed equity share.
The future of nuclear power in the UK
On 5 June, Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer visited the Somerset construction project and declared his support for nuclear power.
He said: “Nuclear is part of the future […] therefore, this project must be delivered. Sizewell needs to move at the same pace as other projects – we have a project in Anglesey that hasn’t started yet.
“I see the future energy mix of this country as a new nuclear mixed with renewables as we move forward. Some of the skills that are being deployed here today, I’m sure will be deployed at Sizewell and other plants because that’s how we get the innovation and the delivery of the projects that are so important for our country”.
Hinkley Point C is the only nuclear power station currently being built in the UK, despite a previously stated government energy strategy that would mean eight new plants are needed by 2030.
Whitehall has committed start-up funding for Sizewell C in Suffolk, a replica of Hinkley Point C, to be delivered by EDF, but outside investors are still being sought to make it financially viable.
The Hitachi-backed Wylfa project in Anglesey was abandoned in 2021, with the developer citing government funding policies as the reason it withdrew its planning application. It has been suggested that other companies could take over the site.
In February, some 57 Tory MPs called on the government to commit to funding two new nuclear power projects by January 2025.
A government spokesman said at the time that it had “an ambitious civilian nuclear program and [is] committed to ensuring the UK is one of the best places in the world to invest in new nuclear.”
