EDF readies Hinkley Point suppliers

Today’s announcement of a £460m contract for Balfour Beatty Bailey at Hinkley Point C has been accompanied by a raft of other contractor appointments by EDF for the planned nuclear power station.

As reported elsewhere on this site, a 50:50 joint venture of Balfour Beatty and NG Bailey is EDF’s preferred bidder for the £460m electrical package at Hinkley Point C.

But a raft of other companies have also been lined up for a further £840m worth of business. Companies have been encouraged to form joint ventures (JVs) to combine experience and knowledge, therefore several contracts have gone to Anglo-French JVs. Further suppliers named as preferred bidders for various contracts today are:

Cavendish Boccard Nuclear (JV) comprising of Cavendish Nuclear and France’s Boccard – mechanical pipework and equipment installation

ACTAN (JV) comprising of Doosan Babcock and French firms Axima Concept and Tunzini Nucleaire – 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.

Two further companies are already working on the project.  Aggregate Industries is building the Cannington bypass, park & ride sites and highway improvements; and G4S is providing site security.

Project management contracts have 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

Turner & Townsend – project controls and project management

Gleeds – contract management services

Faithful+Gould – contract management services

Mace – contract management services.

EDF has also placed contracts totalling more than £225m with local southwest joint ventures. Its definition of local is flexible; Skanska, in this context, is defined as being a local Taunton outfit, not a Swedish conglomerate.

Somerset Infrastructure Alliance  (Skanska/RK Bell/Forest Traffic Services) – site infrastructure services including site road maintenance, landscaping, signage and fencing

COMA (Wessex Water/RM Utilities/Hydroline Solutions/MMES 2012/Boultings Group) – construction utilities including electrical networks across the site and support services

Somerset Larder (six Somerset food producers) – catering

HOST (four Somerset companies) – workers’ campus accommodation management

Somerset Passenger Solutions (two Somerset companies) – transporting workers by bus.

Skanska’s Somerset Infrastructure Alliance will undertake various logistical services to ensure the free movement of the construction teams around the site, including carriageway and footway maintenance, site cleansing, traffic management, winter maintenance and minor civils works. The SIA will also be responsible for co-ordination of all works outside of the main construction areas.

EDF Energy CEO Vincent de Rivaz said: “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. 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.”

A joint venture of Bouygues Travaux Publics and Laing O’Rourke (BYLOR) was selected back in 2012 year for the £2bn main civil engineering and construction contract.

A Kier BAM joint venture was named for a £100m+ site preparation works contract back in 2011 and in 2013 Costain was picked for a £200m contract to design and build the water cooling systems.