Hinkley Point C nuclear power project has reached a new milestone with the first of two giant Turbine Hall crane girders delivered to the site. The girder that spans the width of a football pitch was moved from Avonmouth to Hinkley Point C by Osprey Group.

Once both girders are installed, they will be responsible for supporting the 300-tonne capacity overhead crane as it manoeuvres on rails up and down the Unit 1 Turbine Hall.

The crane will be used for the assembly of the Steam Turbine and also for maintenance throughout the operational life of the power station.

John O’Connor, Osprey Group’s Contract Integration Lead, said, “The delivery of these huge assets in near-complete condition can only have been achieved by close collaboration across multiple teams. The modularisation and fit-out of the 300-tonne crane off-site at Avonmouth meant the build was optimised and accelerated. It also released valuable space on Site so another programme could construct its assets early. The benefits are far-reaching. I’m pleased to see how our team developed transportation and installation schemes to support this. It really shows what can be achieved when experience meets logic, and the teams involved focus shared engineering expertise to achieve a common goal.”

Hinkley Point C is the first new nuclear power station to be built in the UK in over 20 years. Located in Somerset, the facility will provide low-carbon electricity for around 6 million homes.

EDF noted that the electricity generated by its two EPR reactors will offset 9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year, or 600 million tonnes over its 60-year lifespan.