EDF says Covid construction delays mean Hinkley Point C nuclear plant won’t start up til June 2026 (had been due end 2025) & will now cost up to £23bn.

Previously announced risk of (non-Covid-related) 15 month delays & £700m cost overrun remains in addition to that.
EDF insists the latest Hinkley cost overrun reflects "a health crisis, not an issue with construction".

Says ongoing distancing means it has not "been able to bring on the extra people needed to catch up on work we postponed at the height of the crisis". https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/edf-blames-virus-for-fresh-delays-and-cost-overruns-kfjxzfjrn
EDF blames virus for fresh delays and cost overruns

The Hinkley Point C nuclear plant will not start generating electricity until June 2026 at the earliest and will cost an extra £500 million after Covid delayed work by six months.EDF said that it now

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/edf-blames-virus-for-fresh-delays-and-cost-overruns-kfjxzfjrn
For the background to the Hinkley saga, here's a piece I wrote for Christmas 2017 (The One Where It Was Supposed To Be Cooking Our Turkeys).

Since then other nuclear projects have been scrapped, Hinkley costs have risen and renewables costs have fallen. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/has-nuclear-been-stuffed-by-hinkley-turkey-fzl7nxdkw
Has nuclear been stuffed by Hinkley turkey?

This Christmas holds a special significance for those following the energy sector. It is the year in which families were supposed to be cooking their turkeys with power from EDF’s new nuclear plant at

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/has-nuclear-been-stuffed-by-hinkley-turkey-fzl7nxdkw
And here's a piece I wrote last summer after visiting the Hinkley Point site on how EDF and partner CGN are attempting to learn the lessons from previous projects to avoid further delays and cost overruns in Somerset. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/no-let-up-in-heavy-lifting-at-hinkley-point-plant-3s02wmscp
No let-up in heavy lifting at Hinkley Point plant

The first thing you notice as you approach Hinkley Point C is the sea of cranes. There are dozens of them, jutting into the Somerset sky from the site where EDF, of France, and CGN, the Chinese state

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/no-let-up-in-heavy-lifting-at-hinkley-point-plant-3s02wmscp
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