Hinkley Point C Excellence Awards, commonly referred as HPC Excellence Awards, recognize the successes, innovations, and leadership of the teams and individuals working across the Hinkley Point C Nuclear project in 2018. Now in their second year, the awards evening was organized at the McMillan theatre in Bridgwater, UK

22 awards were presented across categories representing important aspects of Hinkley Point C's construction. The awards were divided into four overall themes: People; Supply Chain; Technical; and Safety, Quality, Sustainability, and Innovation. HPC is a 3,200 MWe nuclear power station with two EPR reactors in Somerset, England. It is due to become fully operational in 2025, and will power more than six million homes in the South West.

Sarens won the most innovative supplier award for innovatively coming up with alternative solutions for difficult lifting operations. Our SGC-250 at the Hinkley Point C project has a maximum load moment of 250.000 metric tonnes, allowing it to lift an astonishing 5.000 tonnes. Even at a larger radius of 100 metres, it can lift an amazing 2.000 tonnes. SGC-250's ability to relocate (the fully-rigged crane) on site from one lifting position to another is not only unique to Sarens, but to the entire global crane industry. The SGC-250 will be operating at the Hinkley Point C for about four years and perform all heavy lifts in the construction of this new nuclear power plant. Its unique on-site relocation system will also be used there, since the crane will need to lift from three different positions. 

Apart from our #1 crane, Sarens was also recognised for providing innovative solutions for:

• Proposing and executing the installation of a conveyor belt on the jetty with a crawler crane on a barge instead of a heavy-lift ship.
• Replacing a bunker head with a 400T, CC2400 instead of the requested 1250T, CC6800. 

Stijn Sarens, Simon Massey, Sales Director, UK, and Julian Meynell, Sarens Project Manager for Hinkley Point C proudly collected the award at the gala evening. Stijn Sarens says, "We are very honored with this prestigious award. It's a recognition for all our people - in the office and in the field- who have invested a lot of time, effort, and passion into this project."