Flexenergy’s specialist prefabrication expertise has played a key role in a modular village providing a hotel-style living environment for workers at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station site. The company, one of the UK’s leading pre-insulated polybutylene pipe specialists, has manufactured bespoke pipe components for heating and hot water
EDF Energy are building the first nuclear power station in the UK for a generation at Hinkley Point in Somerset. The new plant is expected to cost £18 billion to build and it is thought that most of this investment will be financed by EDF, the French utility company. Hinkley
Confident that Horizon will be able to adhere to the previously stated timeline for construction at Wylfa, Alan Raymant, Chief Operating Officer, has openly expressed his views to the Welsh Affairs committee, pushing some of the key doubts associated with EDF’s Somerset project aside and clarifying his confidence. The Hinkley
Flexenergy’s specialist prefabrication expertise has played a key role in a modular village providing a hotel-style living environment for workers at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station site. The company, one of the UK’s leading pre-insulated polybutylene pipe specialists, has manufactured bespoke pipe components for heating and hot water distribution systems for the 44 blocks of accommodation, with ensuite bedrooms, housing almost 1,500 operatives on the Hinkley Point C construction site and in Bridgewater, Somerset. For Flexenergy the project involved providing coiled pipe and prefabricated sections to connect air source heat pumps to the accommodation blocks on the two sites, supplying 110 ‘U’ shaped and 16 ‘L’ shaped fabrications as well as 400 metres of pipe. The sections were assembled and tested before being shipped in batches in line with construction schedules. Flexenergy’s Sales Director, Sandy Fairley commented: “This has been a significant project, underlining our capabilities for bespoke prefabrication, in this case linked to the provision of heating and hot water to the modular accommodation blocks. The ease of installation, coupled with the pipe’s high thermal efficiency and recyclability, made for an attractive and flexible proposition for the contractors.” www.flexenergy.co.uk
EDF Energy are building the first nuclear power station in the UK for a generation at Hinkley Point in Somerset. The new plant is expected to cost £18 billion to build and it is thought that most of this investment will be financed by EDF, the French utility company. Hinkley Point C will be constructed next to the two existing facilities in the areas, Hinkley Point A and B. It is thought that this new nuclear plant location will be the largest construction site in Europe. Hinkley A was decommissioned in 2000, and it is thought that Hinkley B will be decommissioned in 2023. Once the construction work is complete and the site is up and running, Hinkley Point C will have the capabilities to deliver 7% of the UK’s electricity. The construction of this new plant is thought to create 25,000 jobs, with the completed plant itself employing around 900 people. This jobs creation is great news for workers as many nuclear power stations have closed down. It is thought that nuclear energy will play a vital role in the security of Britain’s energy supply while also working towards tackling climate change. Vincent de Rivaz, the CEO of EDF Energy has expressed his confidence in the development at Hinkley point, saying that Hinkley Point C will provide the necessary first step to an increased adoption of nuclear power. It has been calculated that since 2010, a quarter of the UK’s electricity generation capacity has closed. It is thought that by 20130, a further 40% of that older 2010 capacity will close, this will include all but one of the UK’s nuclear power stations. Hinkley Point C will start to provide electricity by 2025, and consumers will not pay anything until the electricity is produced, with the investors taking on the risk of ensuring that the construction of the power station occurs on time and on budget.
Confident that Horizon will be able to adhere to the previously stated timeline for construction at Wylfa, Alan Raymant, Chief Operating Officer, has openly expressed his views to the Welsh Affairs committee, pushing some of the key doubts associated with EDF’s Somerset project aside and clarifying his confidence. The Hinkley Point project came under scrutiny following the reported resignation of Thomas Piquemal, its Finance Director after an apparent quarrel over the decision made by EDF to continue on with a decision on a final investment next month. His reasons, as might be expected, highlighted his views that this decision may place the company in a position of severe financial concern. However, regardless of the delays being incurred on EDF’s project, Alan Raymant is adamant that this will have no bearing on the timetable arranged for Horizon, highlighting that, while the Hinkley Point project is of great import, it is not, however in a position where the two projects’ success are tied together. He commented, “We observe with interest and look to learn from that project but we’re not dependent upon it.” Highlighting one of the key differentiators between the project at Wylfa, as opposed to Hinkley Point, Alan Raymant explained that the Horizon plant is set to utilise highly advanced boiling water reactor technology, which is a technology already to have a tried-and-tested success rate as reported in Japanese plants. Construction for the project is expected to commence by the year 2018, however this date remains an estimation and depends upon the Office for Nuclear Regulation’s design assessment as well as the forming of an agreement on the strike price with the government itself. Yet, once again maintaining optimism, the company is confident that an arrangement will successfully be made with the government and so, the project will see no hitched in this department either. Of course, with keen backing from Hitachi, which bought Horizon in 2012, the company’s commitment to the project and its completion is also notable, with there still being room for discussion for additional investors to chip in to the £10bn project.
