Hinkley Point C has opportunities for businesses in Bristol and across the South West to tender for services to support the next stage of on-site installation in the order of 10’s of millions of pounds.
With 90 Tier 1 contractors now delivering £100s of million value contracts, more of the multiple Tier 2 supply chain contracts in MEH (mechanical, engineering and HVAC) needed to deliver this once-in-a-generation plant are now being made available.
Speaking at the Nuclear South West conference at the McMillan Theatre in Bridgwater today (3rd October 2019), Simon Parsons, EDF Energy’s MEH Programme Director at Hinkley Point C told the audience that opportunities remain to provide support to the programme.
“While HPC will deliver these opportunities through our MEH Alliance, HPC expect the Alliance to seek support from the local and UK supply chain to realise them,” he said.
Last year the innovative MEH Alliance was formed with representation from Altrad, Balfour Beatty Bailey, Cavendish Nuclear, Doosan Babcock and HPC to integrate and coordinate the delivery of all main MEH on the project.
Mr Parsons told attendees at the two-day conference that this innovative approach aims to help different contractors work as a single entity to deliver the complex installation of cabling and pipework in the power station’s 5,000 rooms.
He also talked about the challenges and learnings so far of developing this ‘first of a kind’ plant in a country that has not built a new plant for 30 years.
“This is a project that is a decade in development, a decade in construction and six decades of operation, followed by a decade of decommissioning – in total spanning near to a century.”
The MEH opportunities include provision of cable glands and cleats, general electrical, mechanical and pipe consumables, bolted and welded supports laboratory services and PPE, which are yet to be placed. The delivery of the supply chain solution for EDF Energy and its contractors is managed by the Hinkley Supply chain team who engage with both Somerset and South West businesses that want to become part of the project.
Chair of Nuclear South West Matt Burley said: “The opportunity for local and South West suppliers is both large and complex but we have an excellent solution in place to manage that. It’s always fascinating to hear from the supply chain about the sheer size and scale of delivering a project like Hinkley Point C. It’s been great to hear about our multi billion pound pipeline – the contracts and opportunities for businesses here in the nuclear sector are huge.”
Mr Parsons was joined by a host of diverse and informative speakers who gave an insight into the global overview of the industry from new build to decommissioning and innovation in nuclear. These included Professor Tom Scott, Director of South West Nuclear Hub, Beccy Pleasant, head of Nuclear Skills for the Nuclear Skills Strategy Group (NSSG), NDA Director, Andy Storer, CEO of NAMRC (Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre) Tom Greatrex, CEO of The Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) and Celine Cudelou, from GIFEN on the French supply chain.
For further information on Nuclear South West or joining the Hinkley Supply Chain please go to www.nuclearsouthwest.co.uk