Jack-up vessels arrive to complete offshore nuclear work
Despite delays, the UK’s Hinkley Point C (HPC) nuclear power station’s offshore works are nearing completion.
Deme’s jack-up vessels Neptune and Sea Challenger are being used to install vital components for the power station’s cooling water system.
Six vertical shafts will be installed at depths of more than 20 metres to be connected to six miles of tunnel under the seabed.
A horizontal connection will then be dug between the bottom of the shafts and the tunnel to link 5,000-tonne intake and outfall heads, which were lowered onto the seabed last year. They will circulate water to the two nuclear reactors.
“This is one of the final stages of our offshore operations, which will see teams from EDF, Balfour Beatty and New Wave Solutions working together to deliver yet another incredible feat of engineering,” said Jonathan Smith, area delivery director for HPC. “The cooling water system is critical to the power station.”
Hinkley Point C has been plagued by financial woes, Covid-19 delays and controversy over its design and ownership, but it is still planned to be operational by mid-2027.
