Balfour Beatty secures tunnelling contract for Hinkley Point C nuclear power station

Balfour Beatty announces that it has been appointed by EDF Energy as preferred bidder for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station tunnelling and marine works package.

The four year package will include the construction of three marine tunnels – both onshore and offshore – totalling over 9.5 kilometres in length and 7 metres in diameter to form part of the vital cooling system required for the UK’s landmark nuclear power station.

Achieving preferred bidder status makes this the second major package Balfour Beatty will deliver at Hinkley Point C, following its appointment to the power station’s £460m electrical works package in joint venture with NG Bailey in 2015 which is currently on site.

Stephen Tarr, Managing Director Balfour Beatty’s Major Projects business, said: “With our nuclear heritage dating back to the 1950s, reaching preferred bidder status on our second major package of works at Hinkley Point C is testament to both our expert engineering skills and our in-depth market knowledge.

“Hinkley Point C is a project which inspires collaboration by its very nature due to its significant scale and complexity. Our expert engineers will deploy heavy civil engineering skills and extensive knowledge of tunnelling.”

On completion, Hinkley Point C will be the first of a new generation of nuclear power stations and the first to be built in the UK for more than 20 years.

Over the lifetime of the construction project over 700 job opportunities will be created including up to 15 apprenticeships.

Image Source: EDF Energy