New cost and schedule slippage for EDF’s English EPR reactor at Hinkley Point C power station

The commissioning of the first EPR at a nuclear power plant located in England has now been postponed for at least two years or even four years, EDF announced on Tuesday evening.

New setbacks for EPR, the flagship of French nuclear power. Construction of the first new-generation reactor at the Hinkley Point Sea power plant in England is expected to be delayed by 2 to 4 years and cost nearly double the initial bill. Commissioning of the first EPR at Hinckley Point C has now been postponed for at least 2 years, or 4 years at best. “2029”, Swear “2030” Or “2031”Tuesday January 23, the manufacturer EDF announced.

Located in Somerset in southwest England, the Hinkley Point C site, largely backed by the French group, is not among its first slip-ups. First scheduled for the end of 2025, the start-up of the first reactor was already postponed until June 2027, with the risk of a delay of 15 months predicted. In the best case, the delay will ultimately be 24 months.

Two planned scenarios, favorable and unfavorable

The French electrician specifies that he has extended the duration of the electro-mechanical assembly work (cables and pipes) at a time when this phase has just begun. Scheduled to last 28 months, this phase will eventually take 52, adding two years to the total duration of the project. Upon the realization of this assembly plan – the most likely according to EDF – depending on conditions, favorable or centralized, the reactor could thus start in 2029 or 2030. But “Given the complexity of the project” EDF has also planned “An Adverse View” WHO “Unit 1 may start generating electricity in 2031”He said in a press release.

Longer therefore more expensive: the project now sees its value”Value in the range of 31 to 34 billion pounds in 2015 value” announced the energy company, which mentioned that costs are being projected in 2023 values. This represents an additional cost of 6 to 8 billion pounds (7 to 9.3 billion euros) compared to the last revision in 2022. EDF then revalued the project at 25–26 billion pounds in 2015, compared to an estimated 18 billion at the start of the project in 2016. Furthermore, with inflation, Hinkley Point costs may increase further, and due to the lack of participation by its Chinese partner CGN in the additional costs, EDF may have to bear the burden alone.