JUST five years after getting the go-ahead, the number of people across Britain working on the Hinkley Point C power station has reached 22,000, builders EDF Energy announced this week.

This includes 6,300 on site, compared to just 1,500 at the height of the pandemic.  

An EDF spokesman said that the number of workers on site was due to increase to 8,500 in the next 18 months. During construction a total of 74,000 people in Britain are due to work on the project and so far, 800 apprentices have been trained.

Final contracts for Hinkley Point C were signed on September 29, 2016. Since then, 3,600 British companies have won contracts on the project. This includes more than 400 businesses in the north of England where spending so far has already topped £1.2bn. By the end of the project, £18bn will have been spent with British businesses. 

The spokesman added that the next prefabricated 17m high section of the first reactor building is complete and ready to be lifted into place and work to build the 16m high floor for the first turbine and generator is under way, ready for the world’s most powerful “Arabelle” turbine.

This will arrive later this year. Each turbine can produce more than three per cent of the nation’s electricity, enough for more than three million homes.

A total of 3.5 miles of cooling tunnels have been completed, six 5,000 tonne water intake heads are ready for installation and work to install the 230 miles of pipes and 5,500 miles of cables is under way. 

Director Stuart Crooks said: “Covid-19 has challenged the project and its suppliers and I am proud of the enormous efforts made to keep the site safe and moving ahead. As we emerge from the worst of the pandemic, we can now create more jobs as we step up construction and manufacturing for the next phase of the project.” 

Unite national officer for construction, Jerry Swain said: “Hinkley Point is the most significant construction project in a generation, as it is fundamental to the UK’s future energy policy. It is essential that the lessons learnt and the skills developed at Hinkley are not allowed to be lost in the sands of time.”

Charlotte Childs, GMB national officer for construction and engineering, said: “GMB are proud to have been involved in HPC from the start, lobbying the government at the time to ensure that HPC became a reality.

“We have worked with EDF to make HPC not only a project delivered by highly skilled, unionised workers but to ensure a legacy of jobs and training that creates the next generation of engineering and construction workers.”