Hinkley Supply Chain Newsletter

Delivery Partners for the Hinkley Supply Chain Team

October 2018

Dear

The Hinkley C construction project progresses at pace with key milestones being achieved on time in the “Drive for 25”. The 6 local supplier consortia (Catering, Bussing, Campus Accommodation, Furniture and Fixing, Reprographics, Site Infrastructure) delivering contracts servicing the needs of the 3200 workers on site are continuing to rise to the challenges faced on a daily basis.

During the last quarter the Hinkley Supply Chain Team has been actively engaged with 10 construction Tier 1 procurement teams uncovering scope of works for 37 work packages and promoting 428 suppliers with relevant capability.

The Tier 1 suppliers engaged currently are:

We have also met with the EDF Energy MEH Alliance project leads in order to make sure that the SW supplier opportunities from this new Mechanical and Electrical Alliance are uncovered and promoted early enough. We look forward to promoting SW and South Wales supplier capability as part of the UK offer that stands to gain from the creation of the MEH Alliance – see below.

Join us in the “Drive for 25”.

Chris Langdon

Project Lead – Hinkley Supply Chain Team

Project News

On 27 ^th September, the Hinkley Point C project celebrated two years since the final contracts were signed that enabled construction to start. In that time we have seen the site grow from a hole in the ground to a fully- fledged construction site. Key highlights are as follows:

Work is advancing on reactor one with completion of its pre-stressing gallery: this structure sits below the reactor unit and will help to strengthen the main reactor building. Work on reactor two has also begun.

The ‘Deep dig’ is complete for Unit 1.This vast excavation is 21m below sea level and will contain the 54m tall water pumping station.

750 metres of underground galleries are ready. These are the concrete channels to house cables and pipes.

A 500m Jetty has been built to import aggregates by sea.

Concrete production has already topped 200,000 cubic metres and 5.3m cubic metres of earth have been moved.

Work will be completed this year on the 760m sea wall. At 13.5m tall, it has been designed to cope with rising sea levels for the plant’s lifetime.

The first accommodation campus opened on schedule with 510 beds, a restaurant and gym.

£10.6bn of contracts have been awarded with over £1.3bn in the South West and 64% of the project value is being spent with UK registered firms.

250 of 1,000 apprentices have been hired and 400 schools have taken part in STEM education events.

The next project milestone is to start the construction of the Unit 1 Nuclear Island Common Raft. This key milestone will be marked by the first concrete pour scheduled in November. Everyone involved in the Project is also aligning behind the commitment to see the first unit at Hinkley Point C producing electricity in 2025. The “Drive for 2025” will become a regular feature in these briefs as the Project moves in to the next phase of construction.

MEH Alliance

On 27 ^th September four major UK contractors signed a Memorandum of Understanding to form the MEH Alliance (Mechanical, Electrical and HVAC – heating, ventilation and air conditioning). This innovative approach means that Altrad, Balfour Beatty Bailey, Cavendish Nuclear and Doosan Babcock will pool their expertise to work as a single entity on the complex installation of cabling and pipework in the power station’s 2,500 rooms. The Alliance will be using common services and where possible collaborating on the procurement of common material requirements such as system pipework, supports and secondary steel work.

Full details of these new arrangements are yet to be released, but the changes should result in more work being brought back to the UK in order to shorten supply routes and to de-risk the Project from external changes to the business environment.

Click here for further details.

HPC Tier 1 Engagement Update

John Vieth

Nuclear Accounts Manager, Hinkley Supply Chain Team.

John has been with the Team for 12 months, and with over 15 in the nuclear industry, he brings a wealth of technical knowledge and commercial expertise in this high integrity market, and is a well-known character within the industry.

“As this significant project reaches the end of its second year, the major HPC contractors are identifying more immediate requirements, so building and maintaining relationships with them is becoming more important as the site develops. By using the Supply Chain Portal to match supplier capabilities with contractor requirements, the team is increasingly becoming an ‘extension’ to their procurement activities, helping to ensure that local and regional companies are considered to become a part of the HPC Supply Chain.

The funded support offered to SME’s by the Hinkley Supply Chain Programme helps to ensure the companies we put forward to contractors have been able to take pro-active steps to get ready for future project opportunities. Whatever stage a company is at; from deciding if HPC is right for them, through to upskilling, bidding, or preparing to deliver contracts, we will continue to offer relevant workshops and on-site support to local and regional companies to help them increase their credibility within the nuclear sector, and strategically plan for long term opportunities at HPC and beyond.”

Supplier Case Studies

"This has been about transforming our business"

For hundreds of South West businesses, the HPC project presents a once in a lifetime opportunity to transform their companies forever.

This is perfectly demonstrated by Somerset steel fabricators Pitney Fabrication which, in the last five years, has positioned itself to be in just the right place to reap the rewards that come from being a supplier to Europe’s largest development.

This is remarkable considering just 24 months ago the land where Pitney’s brand new, 40,000 sq ft industrial unit stands was just an empty, muddy field with a “for sale” sign.

“Following a period of growth we’d simply outgrown our old premises,” explains Tim Walrond, director.

“At the same time, we knew that, in order to present ourselves as a genuine supplier to the Tier 1 firms at Hinkley Point C, we had to up our game and really show the Project and the rest of the construction sector what we are capable of.”

To read more click here

"The South West Nuclear Fabrication Group is ready for business"

Under normal circumstances most business owners and managers wouldn’t open up their premises for one or more of their competitors to walk in and observe their processes but, for a group of South West companies operating and occasionally competing in similar sectors, it was an essential process in order to progress their business development opportunities within the fast-growing nuclear sector.

The six companies – Arc Energy Resources, Bristol Steel Stockholders, FLI Structures, Jordan Manufacturing, Ledwood Mechanical Engineering and Technical Inspection Services UK – have all come together under the banner of the South West Nuclear Fabrication Group (SWNFG), thanks to the support through the Hinkley Supply Chain Programme.

To read more click here

Nuclear South West Conference 2018

More than 100 delegates from across the region and across various industry sectors attended the third annual Nuclear South West Conference on Sept 19 ^th in Bristol.

The annual conference was a great chance for companies to make new connections, find opportunities and listen to the wealth of advice from a host of influential speakers.

Hosted by Norman Harrison, Senior Market Investment Advisor for SC Innovations, Matt Burley, Chair of Nuclear South West opened the event and subsequently we were introduced to Lord Hutton, Chair of Energy UK who spoke of the importance of the £200m Nuclear Sector Deal agreed with government, which paves the way for major new investment and further job creation.

Great emphasis was placed on how the South West are leading the way, as we have the first nuclear new build in decades and that regional clusters are the solution to driving initiatives. Lord Hutton concluded by stating that it was now time to implement the nuclear sector deal and writing it just isn’t enough. To read a full write up on Lord Hutton’s speech click here .

Whilst the first half of the day was quite heavily HPC focussed and a lot of emphasis was put on the opportunities that HPC can leverage, the second half of the day had more of a focus on supplier experiences and routes to market.

All in all another successful, well attended and professional event.