Hinkley Point C (HPC) is the first nuclear power station to be built in the UK for a generation

Situated on the Somerset Coast, HPC is one of the largest and most complex projects in Europe, and when complete will power around 6 million homes with low carbon electricity.  

Laing O’Rourke in partnership with Bouygues TP (Bylor) is delivering the main civil engineering works at HPC worth over £2.8 billion, constructing the buildings that will house the two EPR (European Pressurised Reactor) nuclear reactors. 

Realising the socio-economic benefits 

Hinkley Point C is making incredible progress on-site in terms of construction, with but EDF, Bylor and other HPC Contractors are also working hard to make sure the project benefits people in the south west and beyond.

The benefits range from increasing local employment, to the development of a sustainable regional supply chain and the advancement of new training facilities and qualifications.

• £2.7 billion spent with companies in the South West
• 11,000 job opportunities created
• 707 apprentices trained on the project
• £120 million of community investment delivered.

Pioneering low carbon concrete

As part of the Bylor partnership, Laing O’Rourke is responsible for the concrete batching plant at Hinkley Point C (HPC). This is a vast project with the batching plant running 24 hours, 7 days a week. Our concrete is building a nuclear power plant that will be critical to the UK’s energy security and resilience long term. The team at HPC is also working hard to improve the sustainability of concrete production.

How it works

The site only ever uses low carbon concrete, and this has been the case since project inception. This means that a high proportion of the cement in concrete is replaced with a product called GGBS, which has a much lower carbon footprint. At HPC, all concrete is manufactured with a minimum of 70% GGBS content, going up to 80% in some instances.

Water from concrete production is recycled. The water used in concrete production is stored for a period, allowing the other materials to settle and sink, then recycled back into the production process on-site.

Key outcomes

• 240,215 tCO2e saved over the lifetime of the project from the use of low carbon concrete
• 41,335 m3 of water recycled since project inception