Nottinghamshire firm begins delivery of £50m contract for Hinkley Point C nuclear power station

A Nottinghamshire firm has begun delivery of a £50m contract for accommodation units for workers at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station site in Somerset.

Caledonian Modular from Carlton-on-Trent near Newark employs about 150 people and was awarded the contract by main contractor Laing O’Rourke. 

The first accommodation units rolled off the factory production line in March and are being delivered to Somerset 96% finished.  Each 34 bedroom block will be completed on site within just eight weeks from delivery.  Fifteen blocks will be delivered to the Hinkley Point site and 29 to the accommodation campus in Bridgwater. Using pre-fabricated units made at Caledonian’s 40 acre site cuts the schedule by 50% compared to building on site, offers assured quality, and reduces the environmental impact of construction at Hinkley Point and in Bridgwater.

Caledonian Modular beat international competition to win the contract with Laing O’Rourke and has doubled its workforce and re-launched its apprenticeship scheme to complete the project.  The contract guarantees the company 15 months’ work to design and construct the accommodation for the 1,500 workers who will complete the UK’s first new nuclear power station in 20 years.

Nigel Cann, HPC Programme and Construction Delivery Director, said:  “I am pleased to see the first accommodation units arrive on schedule, showing the progress we are making on the site.  We have worked hard to make sure that the impact on the community is a positive one. We knew the accommodation units needed to arrive on time so that our growing workforce didn’t take up the local B&B accommodation for visitors to the area.”

Paul Lang, Chief Executive Officer at Caledonian Modular, said: “The investment we have made in our production facility and dedication of all our staff means that we are on schedule at Hinkley
Point C. We are delighted to have delivered the first accommodation suites to site, with the others now following in quick succession.”

Hinkley Point C will require about 5,600 workers during peak construction.  Around two thirds of workers will rent privately in the local area or be home based. For the remaining, accommodation facilities are planned in Bridgwater, Somerset along with a 500 bed campus planned for the south of the construction site.

Background on the HPC accommodation campus

The Bridgwater accommodation site is located on part of a former plastics factory to the north of the A39 (Bath Road).

The 500 rooms on site (Hinkley House) and the 986 offsite rooms (Sedgemoor Campus) will provide accommodation to additional workers intended to be working on the project by the time these rooms are available - starting from summer 2018.

The campus is designed with an amenity building which includes a canteen, laundry and gym. One full size and two 5-a-side pitches will also be available on the site for use by our workers and members of the public at certain times.

The offsite campus is expected to operate for six and a half years. The development will leave a positive legacy for the future.  After being used by EDF Energy, the buildings will be removed but key infrastructure will be maintained for future development.

The on-site campus will house workers for around 6 years before being removed after the construction of Hinkley Point C has finished. The land will be restored to its original form.