Balfour Beatty no.2 McNaughton explains the firm's Areva JV
10:38 05 Dec 2008
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Balfour Beatty's new chief operating officer Andrew McNaughton has explained the thinking behind Balfour Beatty's announcement yesterday that it has formed a joint venture with one of these, Areva.
The Balfour No.2 revealed the firm had discussions with both Areva and Westinghouse, with a view to positioning itself as a major player in the anticipated £40bn wave of spend on a new generation of
Explaining the choice of Areva, McNaughton said: “Areva offered us the opportunity to form a team whereas Westinghouse sought an alternative form of procurement: they were looking to play a turn-key role themselves and then, in effect, offering out subcontract packages.
“With Areva we are in the delivery team at the head level."
There are two nuclear clients – EON and EDF – who are making moves to build the first European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs) in the
In the case of EON, it is intent on developing two new power stations and the price of each is likely to run to around £2bn.
“Yesterday EON said to Areva that it [Areva] should start the process development phase. Areva is the technology provider and we will be the delivery partner," said McNaughton.
Balfour also announced yesterday that is has formed a joint venture arrangement with Vinci
EDF uses a different model to that of EON in that it combines the roles of owner, client, customer and project manager in the way it tackles its nuclear new-build.
“EDF then divides what is required to build a new station into smaller pieces,” said McNaughton. Those packages are then let out.
“Vinci has experience of working for EDF and for us Vinci’s strength is its experience of delivering to EDF. Together, we make a strong team,” said McNaughton.
The 50:50 jv between Balfour and Vinci will take on packages in the EDF nuclear programme.
EDF, the second nuclear client, will also use Areva, given its expertise in working with EPR technology.
EDF is to build at least four