Hinkley Point C is getting ready for another engineering feat with the precision placement of 5,000t cooling-water intakes on the seabed.

Each intake head will be connected to 8km of tunnels used to circulate cooling-water for the new power station.

The first heads have been loaded onto barges at Bristol Port’s Avonmouth docks, ready to be towed out to meet two floating heavy lift cranes Gulliver and Rambiz which will work in tandem to lower the structures into place. The cranes have a combined lifting capacity of 7,300t.

Gulliver has now arrived off the Hinkley Point site, with Rambiz due to arrive in the next few days. The lifting will begin later this month and continue throughout the summer.

The four intake and two outfall heads have been built by Balfour Beatty in Avonmouth. Each loading out operation, carried out by lifting specialists Mammoet, takes several hours, with the water levels being adjusted at the dock, to ensure the barge can receive the load safely and securely.

Hinkley Point C marine civils project director Ian Beaumont said: “This starts a summer of complex offshore operations, with teams working in collaboration to deliver an incredible feat of engineering. It demonstrates the continued progress being made at Hinkley Point C.”

Balfour Beatty project director Roger Frost added: “Today marks yet another exciting milestone in the construction of Hinkley Point C with the arrival of some of the largest heavy lift vessels in the world, on site. We are now readying ourselves to successfully complete our next feat of engineering: lowering the head structures, which will support the nuclear power station's critical water-cooling system, to the very bottom of the Bristol Channel.”

The structures will cap the tunnels which will supply Hinkley Point C’s two nuclear reactors with cooling water. The heads are big for a reason. Their size means water will enter the intakes slowly, reducing the number of fish entering the cooling pipes. They are also placed sideways to the tidal flow.  In addition, screens and a fish return system will transfer fish back to sea.

Hinkley Point C will be the first power station around the Bristol Channel to have fish protection measures in place.

Last month EDF released footage revealing the latest progress on the project. 

The progress comes after EDF confirmed that there will be a year-long delay and £3bn cost increase to the Hinkley project.

The start date for the Unit 1 reactor at the Somerset power station will be pushed back to June 2027, with the cost now sitting at £25bn to £26bn, an increase on the previous £23bn figure.

This is due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, time needed to adapt the reactor design for UK regulations and excess costs for marine works.

Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit senior analyst Jess Ralston said that considering the delays EDF has experienced in France with the Flamanville project, it is "not really a surprise" to see Hinkley delayed.

Last week concerns were also raised over the reactors at Hinkley, after cracks were detected in some of EDF's reactors in France.

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