New cost and schedule slippages for EDF’s English EPR reactors at Hinkley Point C power station

The commissioning of the first EPR at the nuclear power plant located in England has now been postponed for at least two years, or even four years, EDF announced Tuesday evening.

New setbacks for the EPR, the flagship of French nuclear power. The construction of the first new generation reactor at the Hinkley Point C power plant in England is expected to be delayed by between 2 and 4 years and almost double the initial bill. The commissioning of the first EPR at Hinkley Point C has now been postponed for at least 2 years, or even 4 years, or at best in “2029”, even “2030” Or “2031”announced Tuesday January 23, the manufacturer EDF.

Located in Somerset in the southwest of England, the Hinkley Point C site, largely supported by the French group, is not in its first slip-ups. First scheduled for the end of 2025, the start-up of the first reactor had already been postponed to June 2027, with a forecast risk of delay of 15 months. The delay will ultimately be 24 months, in the best case.

Two planned scenarios, favorable and unfavorable

The French electrician specifies that he has increased the duration of electro-mechanical assembly work (cables and pipes) at a time when this phase is just beginning. Scheduled to last 28 months, this stage will ultimately take 52, which adds two years to the total duration of the project. Depending on the scenarios, favorable or central – the most probable according to EDF – on the realization of this assembly plan, the reactor could thus start either in 2029 or in 2030. But “given the complexity of the project” EDF has also planned “an unfavorable scenario” Who “could lead to the start of electricity production from Unit 1 in 2031”he said in a press release.

Longer therefore more expensive: the project now sees its cost”valued in a range between 31 and 34 billion pounds in 2015 value”, announced the energy company, specifying that the costs in 2023 value are being estimated. This represents an additional cost of 6 to 8 billion pounds (7 to 9.3 billion euros) compared to the last revision which dates back to 2022. EDF then reassessed the project at 25-26 billion in 2015 pounds, compared to 18 billion estimated at the start of the project in 2016. In addition, with inflation, the costs of Hinkley Point could further inflate, and EDF could have to bear them alone, due to the lack of participation by its Chinese partner CGN in additional costs.