MINISTERS from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy visited Hinkley Point C on Thursday to see progress at the new nuclear power station.

Kwasi Kwarteng, Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth and Nadhim Zahawi, Minister for Business and Industry, met some of the 500 apprentices already hired by the project and saw the huge scale of construction underway. 

They heard about the UK supply chain and the progress on the two reactors. Unit One is now being built above ground and the project’s next major milestone is completion of the base for Unit Two in June.

Mr Zahawi said: “The visit was an invaluable opportunity to see how construction is progressing on this vast and important project.

“Hinkley Point C will provide clean energy for nearly six million homes as well as delivering thousands of jobs, and I look forward to seeing how it progresses in the months and years ahead.”

The ministers also visited Hinkley Point B power station which, as reported in last week’s Free Press, hit a new record for low carbon electricity production in the UK. It passed 300TWH, enough to continuously power every home in the UK for three years, avoiding 105 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.

And they saw the National College for Nuclear in nearby Cannington, one of the many initiatives to increase UK skills. These include the opening of a national welding centre at Bridgwater College, due in the first half of 2020.

Full report and more pictures in tomorrow’s Free Press.