EDF Energy has appointed a joint venture of Balfour Beatty and NG Bailey as its preferred bidder for the £460m Hinkley Point C nuclear power station electrical package.
Balfour Beatty Bailey, a 50:50 JV, will work across both proposed Hinkley Point C units to deliver the critical infrastructure that will power the station and its operations.
Works will include design and installation of some 76,000 cables totalling more than 3,000km in length. The project also involves: more than 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.
Design work on the six-year project is expected to start in 2016, with the construction phase starting in 2017. The joint venture’s full contract award is scheduled for 2016, subject to a final investment decision by EDF for the new nuclear plant.
NG Bailey chief executive David Hurcomb said: “Balfour Beatty and NG Bailey have been working together for the last five years to develop a compelling proposition for the UK’s nuclear new build programme. We are delighted with today’s news. Our involvement in this project will allow Balfour Beatty Bailey to become a leading team in the nuclear new build arena – a sector in which both companies have extensive experience, having both worked on the first nuclear power station to be built in the UK at Calder Hall and, the last, at Sizewell B.”
Balfour Beatty group chief executive Leo Quinn said: “This project enables Balfour Beatty to deploy its extensive experience and knowledge of the nuclear sector as the UK takes its next significant step forward in low-carbon energy.
“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.
“I am particularly pleased to see Balfour Beatty combining its tradition of delivering essential infrastructure with the creation of new skills and employment in this country.”
