Hinkley Point C’s spending in the North of England tops £1bn

Hinkley Point C’s spending with businesses in the North of England has topped £1bn, according to latest figures from the new nuclear project.

The numbers come in Hinkley Point C’s “2021 Socio-Economic Impact Report” which shows spending of £1.1bn with more than 500 companies in the North-East, North-West, Yorkshire and Humber. 

The figures were highlighted by EDF’s Chief Executive Simone Rossi on a visit yesterday (9 June) to Darchem engineering near Stockton-on-Tees. The company employs hundreds of people on major contracts to build specialised tanks, stainless steel liners and other precision equipment for the plant in Somerset. The work has played a key role in sustaining the business during the pandemic.

The socio-economic report shows that Hinkley Point C will support 71,000 jobs in Britain.  These include new jobs recently created at Jarrow in South Tyneside where 40 new roles are being hired by KAEFER for specialised steel ductwork. On Humberside, Bilfinger is opening a new factory for high quality pipework as part of a contract expected to employ 350 people across Britain.

Darchem has recently moved manufacturing of eight 100 tonne tanks for the project from the site in Somerset to a factory in Middlesbrough, driving efficiency with modular construction close to home. Experience gained on the first reactor unit at Hinkley Point C is also helping Darchem boost productivity. Its work to install ten tonne sump suction lines was done 40% faster on the second reactor unit – demonstrating the benefits of replication. 

During the visit to Darchem’s Stillington factory, Simone Rossi and Hinkley Point C Managing Director Stuart Crooks met workers, including 21-year-old apprentice Declan Gordon from Hartlepool.

EDF CEO Simone Rossi said: “Hundreds of companies across the North of England are helping Britain achieve Net Zero with the first nuclear power station for a generation at Hinkley Point C. This effort is creating thousands of quality jobs and allowing businesses to invest in skills, productivity and industrial capacity.

“Continued progress on the follow-on Sizewell C project is essential to give suppliers confidence to carry on investing in skills and creating jobs. “

Cameron Gilmour of Doosan Babcock, from the Sizewell C Consortium of 200 British firms, said: “These figures show just how much new nuclear can deliver for British businesses, jobs and industry. That’s why our members are united in making the case for Sizewell C and why sign off from the government on the project will mean our expert supply chain can continue the positive economic legacy of Hinkley Point C here in the North of England.”

Notes

The Hinkley Point C Socio-Economic Impact Report 2021 can be read here.

Spending in the North-East so far is £114m with 59 suppliers. In the North-West it is £824 million with 285 suppliers. In Yorkshire and Humber spend so far is £161m with 188 suppliers.

EDF

EDF is helping Britain achieve net-zero by leading the transition to a cleaner, low emission electric future and tackling climate change. We are Britain’s biggest generator of zero carbon electricity, meeting around one-fifth of the country’s demand and supplying millions of customers with electricity and gas.

With around 5 million accounts, EDF is one of the largest suppliers to British homes and businesses
and a leading supplier of innovative energy solutions that are helping businesses become more energy independent. All of our home and small business customers get energy tariffs backed by zero carbon electricity as standard.

We generate low-carbon electricity from eight nuclear power stations, more than thirty onshore wind farms and two offshore wind farms, thousands of EV charge-points, and combined heat and power plants. Wind, nuclear and solar all produce electricity that is zero carbon at the point of generation and have similar emissions over the build, run and retire lifecycles.

EDF is leading the UK’s nuclear renaissance with the construction of a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C, and is leading the development of plans for a replica 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 is one of the UK’s largest investors in renewables, with 1GW of renewable generation in operation and over 4GW in construction, planning and development across a range of technologies including onshore and offshore wind, solar and battery storage. We are constructing our largest offshore wind farm in Britain – the 450 MW Neart na Gaoithe project in Scotland, which will be ready in 2023. Our energy services business, Imtech, is one of the largest technical service providers
in the UK and Ireland.

CGN

CGN is a leading global clean energy company. It has the largest nuclear generating capacity in China, the third largest worldwide, and is the main developer of new nuclear power globally.

The company has more than 30 years’ experience of safely and effectively developing, constructing and operating nuclear plants. It has 24 units in operation in China, with a total installed generating capacity of 27.14GW, and a further 7 units (8.23GW) under construction.

CGN is also a major investor in renewable energy, and has 38.6GW of installed capacity in 18 countries around the world. In the UK, the company is investing alongside EDF in Hinkley Point C, Sizewell C and Bradwell B, as well as in the project to secure regulatory approval for its UK HPR1000 reactor design. CGN also has 346MW of wind power in operation or under construction in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland.