Balfour Beatty and NG Bailey’s joint venture has been appointed as preferred bidder for the £460M Hinkley Point C power station electrical package, for EDF Energy.  

The 50:50 operation will work across both proposed Hinkley Point C units to deliver the critical infrastructure that will power the station and its operations, creating 1,000 jobs including many specialist engineers. 

Works will include design and installation of circa 76,000 cables totalling over 3,000km in length; over 180km of cable containment support systems; fire and environmental sealing; design and installation of earthing systems, and specialist packages associated with data acquisition and plant control.

The six year project is expected to start in 2016 with design work and the construction phase in 2017. The joint venture’s full contract award is scheduled for 2016, subject to the Hinkley Point C final investment decision.

Hinkley Point C plant in Somerset will be the first nuclear power station to be built in the UK for 20 years. The two new nuclear reactors that form the proposed Hinkley Point C will provide 7% of UK demand.

Other preferred bidders announced today bringing the total value of awards to £1.3bn are:

•   Cavendish Boccard Nuclear (Joint Venture) comprising of Cavendish Nuclear, Bristol and Boccard, Lyon, France – mechanical pipework and equipment installation

•   ACTAN (Joint Venture) comprising of Doosan Babcock, Renfrew and Crawley, with Axima Concept and Tunzini Nucleaire, both of Paris, France – heating, ventilation and air conditioning*

•   Laing O’Rourke – construction of workers’ campus accommodation

•   ABB UK – power transmission

•   Premier Interlink WACO UK – construction of temporary buildings

•   Weir – large pumps for cooling water

•   Clyde Union – main pumps for feedwater system and cooling water system

Project management contracts have also been signed with the following companies, with the value of each contract to be determined for services that will be provided over the duration of construction:

•   KBR – project management of site operations and equipment contract management

•   Jacobs  – project management of building and civil work

•   Gleeds  – contract management services

•   Faithful+Gould  – contract management services

•   Turner and Townsend – project controls and project management

•   Mace – contract management services

“Hinkley Point C will be at the forefront of the revitalisation of the UK’s industrial and skills base, and we have worked hard to build a robust supply chain to support new nuclear in the UK,” said EDF Energy CEO Vincent de Rivaz.

“The project will boost industrial stamina in the UK and kick-start the new nuclear programme. Experience gained at Hinkley Point will help firms be successful in nuclear projects around the world.”

CBI director general John Cridland said “Hinkley Point will set the ball rolling for the UK’s new nuclear programme putting us on the right path to achieving a secure and sustainable energy mix.

“It represents a real opportunity for growth, with the potential to create tens of thousands of jobs for people, not just in the local community but up and down the whole country.”

Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty Group chief executive said: “The new nuclear programme demands a scale of resources and expertise that only the most capable and trusted partners can deliver. Equally significant, the project requires us to draw on the local community and its people in building what will be a highly specialist workforce.”

Bouygues/Laing O’Rourke has already been announced as preferred bidder for the civils contract, Costain for marine work, Alstom for turbine generators and Areva for instrumentation and control, steam system and turbine supply.

The six year project is expected to start in 2016 with design work and the construction phase in 2017. The joint venture’s full contract award is scheduled for 2016, subject to the Hinkley Point C final investment decision.

Hinkley Point C plant in Somerset will be the first nuclear power station to be built in the UK for 20 years. The two new nuclear reactors that form the proposed Hinkley Point C will provide 7% of UK demand.