French utility EDF was this week granted planning permission for preparatory works for the planned new power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset, the first power station to be built in the UK for 20 years, Building magazine reported. The £100M works, of which £4M is site preparation, will be undertaken by a joint venture between Bam Nuttall and Kier, and will create over 500 jobs for the local community.
EDF Energy chief executive Vincent de Rivaz said that the prompt nature of the planning approval meant that Nuclear Site Licences and environmental permits could now be expedited, as well as the procurement of major parts of the build, Construction News reported.
‘These are significant milestones. They demonstrate that we are progressing and delivering, while we also carry out the work to incorporate learnings from Japan and from our other new build projects internationally’, it reported Rivaz as saying.
EDF Energy will apply to the Infrastructure Planning Commission for consent to build later this year, and is also awaiting final details of the Contracts for Difference, announced in the recent Electricity market reform, which offers minimum prices for low-carbon energy.
EDF has put up £100M overall as a sweetener to the local community, but the local anti-nuclear lobby thinks this is not enough. Local newspaper This is Somerset thinks EDF is more likely to spend £300M to mitigate the impact of the new power station.
The total cost for EDF Energy to build the two new reactors is likely to be around £10BN.
