Big Carl - The World's Largest Crane
- New nuclear project hits all milestones in 2019
- Spectacular pictures released of night-time lift and site progress
Engineers and lifting specialists at Hinkley Point C worked through the night to successfully complete the first big lift by the world’s largest crane. The 250m tall “Big Carl” crane lifted a 170 tonne prefabricated part of the reactor’s steel containment liner into place at 4.30am on Weds (Dec 18). The lift had been carefully planned to take advantage of a small weather window last night.
The achievement marked the end of a year where all the milestones for the new nuclear power station were met. As well as being a great feat of skill, the lift is an important example of innovation. Using lessons learned from EPR construction around the world, the liner section was welded and prefabricated under cover in factory conditions on site to improve quality and lower schedule risk.
Other major achievements in 2019 included:
- Completion of the first reactor’s base
- Start of tunnelling on the three water cooling intakes deep beneath the Severn Estuary
- Completion of the 760m seawall
- Hiring of the 500th apprentice
- Construction of first permanent buildings above ground
The project is now focused on completing the base of Unit Two in 2020, as planned, 12 months after Unit One. Productivity improvements between the two units show the benefit of replication and using experienced workers repeating the same design. This approach will be used for the proposed near-identical plant at Sizewell C in Suffolk.
The project is also strengthening UK skills by joining in the creation of a national welding centre in Somerset, a UK nuclear Technical Services Organisation in Gloucester and a UK EPR engineering design centre in Bristol.
Hinkley Point C Managing Director Stuart Crooks said: “The first big lift is another impressive achievement and I want to thank the teams who’ve worked so hard to make this possible. The experience from civil and nuclear construction and operation across the world at Hinkley Point C is first class and I am pleased to say that we have ended 2019 with all milestones achieved.
“We know that Hinkley Point C’s success is essential in the fight against climate change – in a future when renewables and nuclear will be needed to fill an energy gap as we move away from polluting fossil fuels.”
For more information
Andrew Cockcroft
External Communications Manager (South West)
(T) 01278 484098
(M) 07875113689
andrew.cockcroft@edf-energy.com
About EDF
EDF is driving the transition towards An Electric Britain – a secure, affordable, low-carbon future for everyone. As Britain’s biggest generator of zero carbon electricity, we are investing more than £100 million weekly in Britain’s electricity infrastructure. We supply millions of customers with electricity and help homes and businesses switch to electricity for heating, transport and industrial processes.
We operate five nuclear power stations and more than 35 onshore wind farms and three offshore wind farms. Since 2009, EDF has invested almost £9 billion in the nuclear fleet to improve reliability and extend station lifetimes. The five generating stations currently supply about 12% of the UK’s electricity demand.
EDF is building the UK's nuclear renaissance with the construction of a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C. We are a minority investor (12.5%) in and major supplier to a replica plant at Sizewell C in Suffolk. Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C will provide low carbon electricity to meet 14% of UK demand and power around 12 million homes. EDF Group companies Framatome and Arabelle Solutions have a presence in the UK and manufacture critical equipment such as reactor pressure vessels and turbines.
EDF is enabling its 5 million customers, both in business and at home, to choose electric solutions that save cash and carbon, whether it is buying an electric car, generating and storing electricity, selling energy back to the grid or installing solar panels or a heat pump. In 2025, EDF’s Customers business was ranked as one of the Sunday Times’s Best Place to Work.
It is also one of the UK’s leading developers of renewable energy through EDF power solutions UK and Ireland. We have more than 2GW of renewable generation in operation and over 10GW in construction, planning and development across a range of technologies including onshore and offshore wind, solar and battery storage.
We are one of the largest suppliers to British business and a leading supplier of innovative energy solutions that are helping businesses become more energy independent. In addition, the company’s energy services business, Dalkia, is one of the UK and Ireland’s largest technical service providers.
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