COVID-19 impacts and restrictions are expected to delay the U.K.’s $30.8 billion Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant project by six months and add another $680 million to the most recent cost estimate. Since work started on the twin-unit, 3,200-MW plant in 2016, the cost hike is now nearly 28%.
“This is the first time we have adjusted our schedule since the project commenced construction,” Stuart Crooks, managing director of project owner-developer Hinkley Point C Ltd., said in a video broadcast. The company is led by French state-controlled energy firm EdF Group.