Electricite de France (EDF) has announced that costs to build the 3.2GW Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant in the UK will move up by £500m, owing to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The French electric utility company has also said that commencement of operations at the plant will be delayed by nearly six months.
According to the company, Unit 1 of the nuclear power plant will start generating electricity from June 2026. Prior to the pandemic, it was targeted to begin operations at the end of 2025, as announced initially by EDF in 2016.
The Hinkley Point C nuclear power project will now cost in the range of £22-23bn. In September 2019, EDF had estimated the cost to be £21.5-£22.5bn.