By Giulia Petroni


Electricite de France SA said late Thursday that it has delayed the start date of its U.K. Hinkley Point C nuclear plant by a year and now estimates project costs in the range of 25 billion to 26 billion pounds ($31.18 billion-$32.43 billion).

The French utility company said the start of electricity generation for unit 1 of the reactor is targeted for June 2027 and risk of further delay for the two units is assessed at 15 months.

"People, resources and supply chain have been severely constrained and their efficiency has been restricted," it said. "In addition, the quantities of materials and engineering as well as the cost of such activities, including in particular marine works, have risen."

The company had previously expected generation start in June 2026 and estimated costs in the range of GBP22 billion to GBP23 billion. Since the beginning of construction, the project has been delayed by 18 months in total, mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic, EDF said.

Changes in project completion costs aren't expected to have an impact on U.K. consumers, according to the company.


Write to Giulia Petroni at giulia.petroni@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-20-22 0142ET