MHI and Weir Partnership to Supply Pumps for Hinkley Point C

A partnership between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) and Weir Engineering Services Ltd. (WES), a subsidiary of Weir Group, has been awarded a contract by Nuclear New Build (NNB) to design, manufacture, and test 34 pumps. NNB is a subsidiary created by EDF Energy to build and operate two new nuclear power stations in the UK. The MHI and Weir alliance will supply five models of pumps, totalling 34 units, to Hinkley Point C, the UK's first new nuclear power plant in 25 years.

When completed, Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, situated in the UK's Somerset region, will have a capacity of 3,200 MWe, provided by two European Pressurised Reactors. The plant is scheduled to start commercial operations in 2025. As the sub-contractor of WES, MHI will be responsible for design and manufacture of all pumps; WES will be responsible for project management, purchase of motors, pre-installation testing, and delivery of pump sets.

"We have been working closely with MHI since 2010 in order to provide our customer with the optimal pump solution that combines the engineering strengths of two global firms. A contract like this is good news not only for the teams at Weir and MHI, but also for both the Japanese and UK nuclear engineering industries. Our collaborative partnership draws upon considerable expertise and we are confident that our solution offers superior value and technical input which we can also now offer to other international power companies in the nuclear generation market," said Mike Mannion, managing director of Weir Engineering Services.

The contract win marks an important milestone in partnership between MHI and Weir, following a formal agreement in 2010 to work with WES on nuclear pumps. With the first contract now awarded to the partnership, the two companies will build on their success by targeting nuclear pump customers in the UK and Europe.

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