The commissioning of the first EPR nuclear reactor at the Hinkley Point C power station in England has been postponed by at least two years, or even four years, for delivery now expected at best in 2029, or even 2030 or 2031 depending on the scenarios, announced EDF on Tuesday. The French electrician indicates that he has reviewed the expected duration of the electro-mechanical assembly work (cables and pipes) when this phase is just beginning. Scheduled to last 28 months, this stage will ultimately take 52, adding two years to the total project duration, at best.
Depending on the scenarios, favorable or central to the realization of this assembly plan, the reactor could thus start either in 2029 or in 2030. “Given the complexity of the project” EDF has also planned “an unfavorable scenario” which “could lead to a start of electricity production from Unit 1 in 2031, i.e. 12 additional months compared to the base case (commissioning 2030),” according to a press release.
Electro-mechanical assembly work
This new postponement of the schedule is linked to the reassessment of the duration of the electro-mechanical assembly work, “in relation to the duration […] estimated at the time of the Hinkley Point investment decision in 2016″, a duration which had “never been reviewed” since for this phase, EDF explained to journalists. Asked about the question of the lack of specialized labor at a time when European countries want to relaunch nuclear power, EDF indicates that it has “made the hypothesis of being able to find the qualifications that we will need”.
“But if we can’t find enough people quickly enough, it could cause a few additional small delays,” the company admitted. Taking into account these new deadlines, the cost of the project is now “estimated in a range between 31 and 34 billion pounds in 2015 value”, announced the energy company. This represents an additional cost of 6 to 8 billion pounds (7 to 9.3 billion euros) compared to the last revision which dates back to 2022. EDF then reassessed the project at 25-26 billion in 2015 pounds, compared to 18 billion estimated at the start of the project in 2016.
With inflation, these costs could rise further, and EDF would have to bear them alone, in the absence of participation by its Chinese partner and shareholder CGN in additional costs. The Hinkley Point C project, largely supported by the French national group, is not the first time its schedule has slipped. First planned for the end of 2025, the start-up of the first reactor had already been postponed until June 2027. Started in 2017, the construction of the two 3.2 gigawatt (GW) reactors, capable of supplying six million homes, is now mobilizing 11,000 people today, according to EDF.