The number of people across Britain working on the Hinkley Point C power station has reached 22,000, this includes 6,300 on site
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.
The firms include many large and small companies like Blackburn-based Assystem, Darchem on Teesside or Kaefer in Jarrow. By the end of the project £18bn will have been spent with British businesses.
The nuclear power station will be essential in helping Britain achieve net zero emissions by providing reliable low carbon electricity to meet 7% of the country’s needs, working alongside wind and solar generation in place of fossil fuels like coal and gas.
Projects like this “benefit the UK workforce”
Stuart Crooks, managing director, said: “Hinkley Point C is essential in the fight against climate change and for Britain’s energy security. It is delivering on its promise of boosting British jobs, skills and industry right across the country.
“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.”
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.
“The UK energy market needs new nuclear projects to ensure supply stability through to and beyond its net zero targets. GMB are unapologetic advocates for new nuclear projects like Hinkley Point C and the upcoming Sizewell C. A just transition needs to have nuclear in the mix and these projects benefit our UK workforce and the communities they are built beside.”
