HINKLEY Point C is on track to meet major milestones including producing electricity by 2025.

That was the message from Simone Rossi, EDF Energy’s chief executive officer, which he visited the site of the new nuclear power station last Wednesday.

Mr Rossi, who has been with the company for 12 years but only took on his new role just under three months ago, said that all the project’s goals for 2018 would help achieve “J-zero” – June 2019 when EDF starts building the power station’s structures above ground.

“Beyond J-zero, our goal is to put the first unit into service by the end of 2025,” he told an audience of people from businesses, councils, chambers of commerce and education.

“Britain has put its trust in EDF to deliver Hinkley Point C and it’s my job to honour that trust. That is my top priority.”

He said the company was confident it could deliver its timeline as it had benefited from innovative tools and lessons from other projects, with the fifth and sixth reactors of their type being built at Hinkley Point C.

Working with suppliers long before 2016, when contracts were signed, meant EDF had already found solutions before work started, and the company had an accurate idea of what it needed to do and how much it would cost, he said.

“It’s one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe and it will deliver safely for over 60 years,” Mr Rossi said. “Are we confident that we can deliver by 2025? Yes we are.

“Like any major infrastructure project, we know we will face challenges and it is our job to deal with them. We will never compromise on safety and quality.”