Hinkley Point C nuclear plant delayed to 2030 as costs climb to £35bn

The project at Hinkley Point C is designed to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and will generate about 7% of Britain’s energy demand. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

Britain’s first new nuclear plant in a generation at the Hinkley Point C site will face further delay, at a cost of €2.5bn to the French utility company EDF.

EDF said the first reactor at the site in Somerset will begin operations in 2030, a year later than planned – almost 13 years after construction work began – after a series of delays to the project.