Sizewell C could pump £200m into region’s economy every year

PUBLISHED: 15:29 17 January 2018 |

Richard Cornwell

EDF Energy CEO Simone Rossi. Picture: EDF ENERGY

EDF Energy CEO Simone Rossi chatting to guests about his visit to Hinkley Point C. Picture: EDF ENERGY

He said: “The key to reducing the construction cost is replication. Doing something again with the same design makes it easier and cheaper. Let me give you an example.

“HPC has eight emergency generators. They had to be designed and certified to meet the standards required for nuclear safety.

“That means the first two will cost £38m, but the next six will be half the price. At Sizewell, none of that development or certification work needs to be done again. All its emergency generators will be at the lower price.

EDF Energy CEO Simone Rossi. Picture: EDF ENERGY

“Repeating that experience countless times for a power station at Sizewell that is largely identical to Hinkley Point C makes a capital cost reduction of 20% possible.”

Sizewell C could also be cheaper because the site has a grid connection capable of handling a bigger power station which could mean “substantial savings”.

Mr Rossi said the company and Government were exploring “alternative financing models” that can create the conditions where institutional investors like pension funds can participate when they were not able to before, again cutting costs.

Jim Crawford, EDF Energy’s nuclear development director for the proposed Sizewell C station, said the promised impact on skills and jobs in Somerset was already coming to fruition.

He said: “An estimated £200m is being spent in the south-west regional economy every year through the project. I will work hard in our region to bring the same benefits to the east from Sizewell C, as well as Bradwell B in Essex.

“I know Suffolk and the wider region can take advantage of the opportunities offered due to the entrepreneurial spirit of local business and the talent of people working in education, training and economic development.”

“EDF Energy has now been through two stages of formal consultation at Sizewell C and we are working with the Government over the coming months to see if we can take the project forward. We’re doing that because we see a unique opportunity for the proposed power station to provide the country with reliable, low carbon electricity at a significantly lower price than Hinkley Point C.

“That’s because Sizewell C will almost be identical to Hinkley Point.

“Repeating the approved design – already adapted for Britain – will save a lot of money.

“The chance for customers to benefit from these cost reductions means it would be a missed opportunity if we didn’t try to make Sizewell C happen. Nuclear contributes more jobs than other technologies too – not just the 5,600 who will build the power station, but also the 900 who will operate it for many decades.

“Sizewell C also matters because Britain still needs to have reliable low carbon energy source like nuclear in its future energy mix. We have a lot of wind in Britain and windfarms like those off Suffolk’s coast have an important and growing part to play in Britain’s energy future.

“EDF Energy supports wind development and thinks there should be as much as reasonably possible where the wind is strongest, in Scotland and offshore. That makes sense because wind prices have fallen in recent years. But wind can’t provide all the answers.

“Britain needs a low carbon energy that is reliable. With wind there is too little – or too much and the back-up power is an extra cost. Batteries have a role to play but the very high costs of battery storage over long periods means it is best suited for balancing our grid over minutes rather than hours. The UK just isn’t sunny enough for solar to provide energy to match demand.”

Campaigners though voiced fears that shaving up to £4billion off the cost of Sizewell C could hit mitigation measures.

Paul Collins and Alison Downes, of Theberton and Eastbridge Action Group on Sizewell, said there cannot be a “one size fits all” approach.

They said: “This leaves us concerned that our environment and our communities will become victims of EDF’s cost-cutting, and that measures we consider vital – such as a dedicated access road and an accommodation strategy fully integrated with the needs of local people for affordable housing – will be swept aside.

“The fragile Sizewell coast, that hosts unique environmentally-sensitive habitats and RSPB Minsmere, requires a complex and highly considered approach.

“EDF’s proposals must reflect the very special circumstances of Suffolk’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and we urge Simone Rossi to come to Suffolk and see for himself.”

1 November 2017

Dear Signor Rossi,

We congratulate you on becoming EDF’s new Chief Executive and extend a warm invitation to visit Suffolk. As a musician, you may know of Snape Maltings and perhaps your daughters would like to see Ed Sheeran’s “Castle on the Hill”?

We wish to show you the beauties of Minsmere and the Heritage Coast and introduce you to the peaceful parish of Theberton & Eastbridge, the community on the very front line of your company’s plans to build two new reactors at Sizewell. As EDF’s proposals currently stand, 2,400 construction workers are to be housed in temporary accommodation on the boundary of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and 900 lorries will be pounding down a country road through our villages, shaking listed buildings and residents alike.

You are taking up your position at a time when relations between our communities and EDF are at an all time low. We are currently awaiting feedback on EDF’s second stage consultation, but unless radical changes are made, we will be forced to conclude that the consultations are purely symbolic and that EDF has never had any intention of addressing our concerns.

In your new role, you have an opportunity to bring a fresh approach to tackling the cumulative and unacceptable impacts of constructing SIzewell C. We hope that you will help to repair relations with our community by visiting us, so that we may discuss our concerns directly with you, including:

* the social and environmental consequences of housing 2,400 workers in an isolated rural location 300m from Eastbridge. A recent report [1] commissioned by Suffolk County Council concluded that EDF’s preferred site was significantly more environmentally damaging than other options. We urge you to re-examine all options including split-sites.

* the impact of a massive increase in heavy vehicles using the B1122, with consequential dangers of accidents, vibration damage to buildings, increased noise and vehicle emissions, and tackling the congested A1120/A12/B1122 junction. We urge EDF to build a Sizewell Relief Road, as proposed for Sizewell B. [2]

* the cumulative impact on the fragile environment of the Minsmere and Sizewell levels, surrounding AONB and on the predominantly tourist-based economy of this area. This includes the proposals to create deep quarry excavations and 30- metre high spoil, gravel and sand heaps – as tall as Bury St Edmunds Cathedral – destroying the natural environment and its tranquillity, and the potential for accelerated shoreline erosion.

Yours faithfully,

Alison Downes and Paul Collins
Co Chairs, Theberton & Eastbridge Action Group on Sizewell C (TEAGS)
info@stopsizewellc.org, www.stopsizewellc.org

1. Boyer and Cannon report 
2. This route was positively re-evaluated in the 2015 AECOM report 

Read online.  East Anglian Daily Time, 17 November 2017 by Richard Cornwell

Officials from EDF Energy say they will also examine the possibility of further improvements to the B1122 road from the A12 at Yoxford to Leiston.

EDF’s preferred site for the Sizewell C workers’ campus is near Eastbridge and Minsmere, but has generated fierce objection from campaigners worried about its impact on the environment and from people living nearby.

Consultants Boyer and Cannon working for Suffolk County Council have suggested a number of alternative locations, near Saxmundham and Leiston, plus splitting accommodation across several sites.

Last night officials from EDF met with representatives of parish councils and a wide range of organisations to report back on the feedback – more than 1,000 responses – to the Sizewell C stage two consultation, which closed in February.

Carly Vince, head of strategic planning for EDF Energy Nuclear New Build, said the company would be considering each of the sites put forward by the county council consultants and would report back on these as part of the stage three consultation to either justify a new site or to justify the Eastbridge option.

She said Eastbridge had become the preferred option after the stage one consultation when other sites were rejected, and other potential locations had already been ruled out before this as part of initial preparatory work.

Eastbridge is EDF’s preferred site because it would be on the doorstep of the construction site, allowing workers to walk to work, taking cars off the road, allow better management of the workforce, and reduce demand for short-term accommodation elsewhere, limiting impact on the tourist and private housing sector.

She said: “We will look at each in more detail in terms of the environmental impact, the effect on community and functionality. We have not ruled out any sites.”

EDF has proposed a new junction at the A12/B1122 at Yoxford, either traffic lights or a roundabout, which is preferred by the public and is needed because the junction is nearing capacity, and also some improvements along the B1122. The route will be reassessed to see if more work is required.