EDF achieves apprenticeship milestone at Hinkley Point C

Business Secretary Greg Clark has made a return visit to Hinkley Point C in Somerset to celebrate EDF Energy’s 250th apprenticeship on-site.

EDF previously set itself a target of creating 1,000 apprenticeship places over the course of the project, meaning that the energy specialist is now a quarter of the way towards its goal. With the National College for Nuclear in nearby Taunton accepting its first intake of students earlier in the year, nuclear training has never been so readily available.

Hinkley Point C is the first nuclear power station to be built in the UK for over a generation. Once operational it will make a significant contribution to the country’s energy mix. Already, nuclear energy accounts for around 20% of the UK’s electricity requirement, and Hinkley Point C is expected to boost that figure considerably.

This renewed focus on nuclear energy tallies up with the government’s own Industrial Strategy, which underscores the need for cleaner forms of energy. The report also outlines long-term proposals to boost productivity and earning power throughout the UK, and establishes how Britain might be future-proofed by enabling businesses to create higher quality jobs in every region via investment in skills, industry and infrastructure.

The Business Secretary – together with Energy Minister Richard Harrington and Jean-Pierre Jouyet, the French Ambassador to the UK – met with apprentices and construction workers on-site to view progress first-hand.

As of May, there are 3,100 staff working on-site each day. The project continues to generate work on both a regional and national level, with contracts valued at £9.4Bn now signed. Hinkley Point C has benefitted the wider supply chain as well, with the total value of the construction budget awarded to UK contractors exceeding its target of 64%.

Today, the site remains on track to meet its next major milestone – the 2019 nuclear concrete construction target – and it is thought energy production is be underway by 2025.

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