CONFIRMATION that the much delayed multi-billion pound Hinkley Point nuclear power station will definitely go ahead will provide a boost for bosses at a West Yorkshire

business named as a key contractor on the scheme.

The pledge that Hinckley Point would proceed came from Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of French power group EDF.

He insisted confidence in the £18 billion project remained.

Mr de Rivaz told MPs on the Energy and Climate Change Committee "clearly and categorically" Hinkley Point C will be built. He said the project had successfully passed regulatory, political, commercial and operational milestones.

EDF had invested £2.4 billion in the project and continued to spend £55 million a month, he said.

He said EDF had the expertise to build the power station, the supply chain was ready and commercial partners were in place. Earlioer this week French economy minister Emmanuel Macron said a date for the final investment decision be announced in early May.

Mr de Rivaz said :"This project is absolutely critical and has the full support of the French government and the British government. Everything is aligning at the moment - it is very positive."

The project is set to provide a big boost for Ilkley-based NG Bailey, which has been listed as a preferred contractor along with joint venture partner Balfour Beatty,

David Hurcomb, NG Bailey chief executive, said the work would boost the turnover of the family-owned company to nearly £1 billion and put it on the ground floor of the UK’s 25-year new nuclear power building programme.

NG Bailey has been listed through Balfour Beatty Bailey, a joint venture with international infrastructure group Balfour Beatty, for electrical work in a contract valued at £460 million.

Mr Hurcomb added: “Balfour Beatty and NG Bailey have been working together for the last five years to develop a compelling proposition for the UK’s nuclear new build programme.

“Our involvement in this project will allow Balfour Beatty Bailey to become a leading team in the nuclear new build arena – a sector in which both companies have extensive experience, having both worked on the first nuclear power station to be built in the UK at Calder Hall and, the last, at Sizewell B.”

The joint venture will deliver the critical infrastructure that will power the station and its operations.

Horsforth-based project management consultancy Turner & Townsend, which has been providing project controls for EDF Energy’s design team in Paris for the past three years, is the preferred sole provider of project controls and project management for Hinckley Point C in Somerset.