Sizewell C has selected three construction companies to build a new nuclear plant in Suffolk, England.
Sizewell C has signed a Program Alliance Agreement with construction companies Balfour Beatty, Laing O’Rourke and Bouygues Travaux Publics to form the Civil Works Alliance, according to its Monday press release.
Within the Civil Works Alliance with Sizewell C, the consortium will be responsible for major parts of the project, including site groundwork, tunneling, main civil works and ancillary projects.
The United Kingdom is the majority owner of Sizewell C.
EDF Energy, a minority stakeholder, has said the Sizewell C project will produce 3.2 gigawatts or 3,200 megawatts of electricity, approximately six million homes powered, with two European Pressurized Reactors (EPR) near the Sizewell B nuclear power plant in Suffolk. EPR is a Generation III+ pressurized water reactor.
The Civil Works Alliance is organized to have Sizewell C fixed in the Alliance as “Client Participant”. It will operate a Target Outturn Cost contract model, Sizewell C said in the release. The Target Outturn Cost model is a cost management approach used in construction where the client and contractor agree on a target cost for the project.
According to the press release, preliminary work at Sizewell C began in January 2024. Sizewell C would employ about 900 people. It would be built next to Sizewell B, which began operating in 1995.
The Sizewell C plant will be a “near replica” project of the Hinkley Point C nuclear station, according to the Sizewell C owners. The same construction group is currently working on the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in Somerset, England.
Earlier in June, the UK government invested £14.2 billion ($19.4 billion USD) in the project over the next five years. A final investment decision, which announced the private investors helping to fund the project, is expected later in the summer, according to Sizewell C officials.