Hinkley Point C is making incredible progress on-site in terms of construction. But we are also working hard to make sure the project benefits are accessible to people and businesses across the South West and the rest of the UK. The benefits range from increasing local employment and creating a sustainable regional supply chain, to investing in new training facilities and the community.
The latest Hinkley Point C socio-economic report shows that we’re meeting the ambitious targets that we set at the beginning of the project to deliver a lasting legacy.
£2.2 billion
spent with companies in the South West to date
10,300
job opportunities created to date
644
apprentices trained on the project to date
£119 million
of community investment delivered to date
2020 socio-economic report
Some of the highlights of the report can be found below and the full document is available online here.
Built in Britain
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Highlights
Education, Skills and Employment
Education, Skills and Employment
The Hinkley Point C education, skills and employment pipeline is continuing to ensure that the huge opportunities available throughout the construction of the new power station can be accessed by individuals across the region and the UK, whether they are in school, exploring careers or accessing apprenticeships and other career routes.
In providing a start-to-finish pipeline, we are:
- providing an industry-leading schools engagement programme, ‘Inspire’, across the region to motivate young people into science, technology, engineering and mathematics career routes.
- providing an innovative bridge from education into the world of work – supporting local careers advice and guidance through the Young HPC programme
- supporting the development and raising the overall skill level and profile of apprenticeships for people across the region.
- supporting the region’s strategy for increasing productivity and social-mobility, particularly in West Somerset. At a time of historically high employment, the pipeline is helping local people to up-skill, re-train and access high quality, sustainable careers.
EDF has listened to the feedback of leaders in education and grown its programmes in response. Whilst reaching across Somerset has its geographical challenges, the resources and opportunities have supported colleagues by ensuring they are relevant and responsive to changes in the educational landscape.
Case studies
Garth Young
Garth Young is a shining example of how an apprenticeship can kick start your career. Garth started his journey at Hinkley Point C in 2014 as a steel fixing apprentice and is now a construction manager, overseeing a team of more than 100 people.
“I was living with my parents near Bridgwater and working in a factory. I saw an advert for an apprenticeship at Hinkley Point C to become a steel fixer and I thought it would be a good opportunity.”
Following successful completion of his steel fixing apprenticeship, Garth joined the Bylor team as a qualified steel fixer in 2016. Just one year later Garth was promoted to the role of steel fixing supervisor at Hinkley Point C in recognition of his expertise and dedication to high-quality steel fixing on site.
Garth again climbed the career ladder in December 2019 when he was promoted to the role of construction manager for Bylor’s prefabrication yard, managing a team of over 100 people, including steel fixers, carpenters, drivers and crane crew.
Garth said: “I’m so glad that I applied for the apprenticeship programme. The Hinkley Point C project offers lots of opportunities to learn and develop your skills. My journey with Bylor has been a great stepping stone and I’m grateful to have been supported by my employer to progress onto a management role.”
Our education response to coronavirus
To supplement the teaching resources already available through the Inspire website, further interactive lesson plans were created to assist teachers and parents alike during lockdown.
The activities, aimed at Key Stage 2, 3 and 4, ranged from 30-minute to one-hour lessons and included lesson plans, homework tasks and careers learning.
The education team also worked closely with Learn Live to deliver topical broadcasts and employer ‘live chats’. The broadcasts covered topics and challenges such as ‘How do you think the UK will be producing electricity in 2050?’, with students asked to submit their project ideas on Twitter using #EnergyMix2050.
Almost 4,000 people watched the live broadcast, which allowed us to reach young people and provide relevant careers advice during lockdown. And the team is now engaged in Learn Live’s employer live chat, answering direct questions from young people on work and career-related topics.
Supporting Business and the Economy
Supporting Business and the Economy
The construction of Hinkley Point C represents a unique opportunity for UK suppliers to develop their expertise in high-quality nuclear construction – capability that is transferable to other engineering projects across the world, including Sizewell C in Suffolk.
These suppliers represent the whole UK, from the company in South Wales supplying pressure vessels to the business on Teesside making £90m of hi-tech nuclear components.
We’ve worked hard to ensure that companies from across the country, not only in the South West, have been able to compete and win contracts. For example, companies in the North and Midlands have been awarded almost £1.1 billion in contracts, which will increase as the project continues.
We have worked hard to maintain and support the Hinkley Point C supply chain through the coronavirus crisis so that our suppliers remain in business and are able to play their part in helping the country’s economic recovery.
The real value of major infrastructure projects goes beyond the core objective of building, it lies in a project’s ability to address broader social and economic challenges: revitalising regions, sectors and workforces, and bringing prosperity to less developed areas.
Case studies
Global Tunnelling Experts
Global Tunnelling Experts, based in Portishead, used the experience of the Hinkley Point C Supply Chain team to secure a contract worth £15 million. The company will operate the three massive tunnel-boring machines used for the construction of Hinkley Point C’s cooling system.
The tunnels will stretch as far as 3.5km under the Bristol Channel and be reinforced with around 38,000 concrete segments, which are also being manufactured by Balfour Beatty at a specialist pre-fabrication facility in Bristol.
Global Tunnelling Experts is focusing on local employment and currently have around 120 staff working at the Hinkley Point C site.
Kevin Browning, Global Tunnelling Experts Director, commented: “We’re only as good as the people we employ, and we always use the one team approach. We see the company as a family unit; our employees are joining the family and that is paramount to our success. Our focus is always on local recruitment and local investment and we’re looking forward to continuing our work at Hinkley Point C.”
Our response to coronavirus
The coronavirus pandemic has brought unprecedented economic challenges to the global economy.
Throughout these challenging times we have been proud to stand by our local suppliers, such as Somerset Larder and Somerset Passenger Solutions, providing much needed security to their locally-based workforce.
The Hinkley Point C Supply Chain team and the Somerset Chamber of Commerce have been advising local suppliers on coronavirus-related business and legal issues, including advice on relevant government grants that may be available to them. In addition, working with the Hinkley Point C Jobs Service, they are supporting Somerset-based suppliers and their employees through these hard times and, where necessary, helping those facing redundancy to find new careers both at Hinkley Point C and beyond.
The supply chain portal was also used effectively to help find regional suppliers who could assist the County Council in supplying protective equipment for health workers and put out a call to arms to local manufactures to assist in the production of more ventilators for the UK’s hospitals.
Supporting the Community
Supporting the Community
Although used to hosting nuclear power stations in the area, the communities around Hinkley Point C are also currently living next to one of the largest construction projects in the UK. Working with them to make sure they enjoy the benefits whilst the impacts are managed is absolutely essential.
Since 2008, we have sought to listen to our neighbours and our consultation has gone far beyond what is typically required of developers. We continue to work with our local communities and partners and aim to continue this high calibre of engagement through our future consultations for Sizewell C and Bradwell B.
The early part of 2020 was dominated by the coronavirus pandemic and adapting our approach to community relations – ensuring continued engagement - was central to planning at this time.
The Hinkley Point C Community Fund grant we’ve been awarded has meant that we can deliver a better and more rewarding service to the people of Sedgemoor - with an immediate effect. The money from the grant is being used to better equip our metalworking workshop, enabling us to teach new skills and trades. This will help our users gain a better, more satisfying and fulfilling life, and also help them back into work.
Case studies
Somerset Larder: Feeding our NHS frontline heroes
Hard-pressed heroes in the health service battling coronavirus have been given a boost by the team at Somerset Larder. Chefs at the Bridgwater catering consortium prepared and distributed meals to frontline NHS workers across Somerset and the South West.
The special deliveries - offered at cost price - went to smaller NHS facilities like mental health units, community hospitals and care homes.
Somerset Larder is a consortium of local companies who came together to service the Hinkley Point C project. It uses exclusively West Country-sourced produce, working with around 20 local suppliers and around 95% of its workforce is locally employed.
The deliveries to NHS workers were in addition to the meals that Somerset Larder provided to FareShare, a charity which helps vulnerable people through tough times. FareShare South West is at the centre of an emergency distribution operation to make sure families struggling to make ends meet, the elderly and the homeless don’t go hungry.
Housing and Accommodation
Over half of the £7.5 million Hinkley Point C Housing Fund has now been spent by the Local Authorities, who have generated more than 2,000 new bedspaces. Of these, 568 are in new build affordable homes.
The Housing Fund also made a substantial contribution towards refurbishing the old Highbridge Hotel. This YMCA development has seen the fire-damaged building transformed into a community café, sports hall, conference and meeting space as well as 23 rooms of supported accommodation. The building will now host a range of fitness classes, youth services and community events as well as offering rentable meeting and conference rooms.
Protecting the Environment
Protecting the Environment
Hinkley Point C will play a vital role in tackling the climate change crisis and the UK’s move to a net-zero future by providing secure low-carbon electricity to 6 million homes.
During the 10 years of construction we are also building the new power station in a way that helps to minimise the impact on the environment.
We’ve focused on reducing carbon emissions, reducing the volumes of materials being used, managing our water resources effectively, reducing and reusing waste, whilst also protecting and increasing bio-diversity.
The project also has an eye on the future sustainability of the construction site. By the end of the build, Hinkley Point C will have undertaken a successful and complex landscape restoration to the south of our site, designed to provide a net-gain in biodiversity. It will be a world class example of what can be achieved in terms of biodiversity net gain alongside low-carbon electricity production.
We were really pleased to find out that we’d achieved ‘Very Good’ certification, under the latest BREEAM criteria, for the campus buildings, as it was one of EDF’s key Development Consent Order commitments. The work was also a great example of collaboration - all the way from the design to the construction stages of the project.
Case studies
Sustainable Living at Hinkley Point C Campuses
During 2019, Hinkley Point C’s Campus accommodation facilities were certified by BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology), the world’s leading sustainability assessor for construction projects, infrastructure and buildings.
Having been measured across several categories, including energy and water usage, management, materials, waste, pollution and innovation, both the Hinkley and Sedgemoor Campus sites received ‘Very Good’ certification under the latest BREEAM criteria.
Achieving the certification was a real collaborative effort. EDF worked alongside the Campus architects AWW, civils structures and mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) specialists AECOM and construction contractor Laing O’Rourke throughout the design and construction stages of the build for both campuses.
Sedgemoor Campus also received particular praise for the development of the site’s ecological value from its previous use, as well as its commitment to continue the enhancement of the grounds by implementing a landscape and habitat management plan.
Low-carbon Lighting
The project now uses solar-powered mobile lighting towers instead of the traditional diesel-powered systems. The new technology provides a range of environmental benefits, including zero emissions, zero noise and reduced fuel costs.
Sixty-six of these towers are operated by local company, Prolectric, and have saved 400,000kg of CO2 compared to standard diesel-powered versions - equivalent to taking almost 200,000 cars off the road.
I am proud that so many people on and off the site have developed their potential and started their careers because of our project – and I am delighted that so many British businesses have grown their skills and capabilities because of their work with us. As the country and our region emerge from the coronavirus crisis, we will have demonstrated our duty of care for our community, whilst our scale and ambition to enrich people and industry will serve as a catalyst for national recovery – both through Hinkley Point C and the follow-on project at Sizewell C.
Find out more
Hinkley Point C
We are building two new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, the first in a new generation of nuclear power stations in the UK, providing low-carbon electricity for around six million homes.
Sizewell C
Sizewell C, a proposed new nuclear power station in Suffolk, has the potential to generate the reliable low-carbon electricity the country needs for decades to come.
Previous reports
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