The suggests that the project’s three local training centres – operated in partnership with the UCS College Group – have given 19,500 people the skills they need to be part of the nuclear power project. Almost 70% of the 1,740 apprentices trained at Hinkley Point C are from the South West region of England. Others include youngsters from Suffolk learning skills they can take to Sizewell C, EDF Energy’s twin nuclear project in the East of England. The original target was for 1,000 apprentices to be trained. The report notes that 70 different types of apprenticeship are available and that 21% of apprentices are women.
So far, GBP5.4 billion (USD7.2 billion) has been spent with 1,500 businesses across the South West with case studies highlighting the suppliers growing their capability and winning new work thanks to their experience at Hinkley Point C. Benefits are also felt across Britain, including a new factory in North Wales which has opened to support Hinkley Point C and future nuclear projects. This facility will employ 200 people.
The report also maps grants provided by Hinkley Point C’s Community Fund of more than GBP20 million to 385 community projects. Stretching across Somerset, the benefits have been accessible to over 600,000 people. The grants are creating community benefit that will continue well beyond the construction of the new power plant. The investment has also unlocked match funding of at least GBP8.4 million.
The report says the project continues to deliver environmental benefits. It includes examples of the planting of seagrass in the Severn Estuary to benefit the marine environment and the GBP700 million of fish protection measures being delivered by the power plant. It says surveys show wildlife around the site is thriving with 92 bird species recorded in newly created landscape areas.
Construction of Hinkley Point C – composed of two EPR pressurised water reactors of 1630 MWe each – began in December 2018, with unit 1 of the plant originally scheduled to start up by the end of 2025, before that was revised to 2027 in May 2022. In 2024, EDF announced that the “base case” was now for unit 1 being operational in 2030, with the cost revised from GBP26 billion to between GBP31-34 billion, in 2015 prices.
When complete, the two EPR reactors will meet around 10% of the UK’s current electricity demand, and are expected to operate for as long as 80 years.
“Now at the peak of its construction, Hinkley Point C is providing many more benefits beyond the huge amounts of reliable electricity it will produce,” the report says. “The project’s commitment to maximising its positive impact for people, skills and the economy is providing growth across Britain. The project is also a catalyst for further growth with people and businesses now able to apply their nuclear expertise and learning at Sizewell C and on future small modular reactor projects. This report demonstrates the wider benefits provided by Hinkley Point C in the three key areas essential for sustainability – people, planet and prosperity.”
“We’ve worked hard to make sure we can change lives for the better by providing new skills and jobs here in the South West and right across the country,” said Stuart Crooks, Hinkley Point C’s CEO. “We set out ambitious targets for jobs and training, and we’ve exceeded them. The decision to go ahead at Sizewell C means even more opportunities for the people, industry and businesses that support us.”
Sizewell C will be a similar design to the two-unit plant being built at Hinkley Point C, with the aim of building it more quickly and at lower cost as a result of the experience gained from what is the first new nuclear construction project in the UK for about three decades.
Tom Greatrex, Chief Executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said: “Hinkley Point C continues to demonstrate the enormous value of new nuclear projects to communities, businesses and the wider economy across the South West and beyond. This report highlights how the project is supporting thousands of skilled jobs, creating opportunities for local firms, and bringing long-term investment into the region. As Britain’s largest construction project, Hinkley Point C is not only delivering clean, reliable power and strengthening energy security, it is helping to build the workforce, skills and industrial capability that will support the South West and UK economy for decades to come.”
