PARIS, (Reuters) – The construction of Britain’s first nuclear reactor in decades will take place over the next year. This is according to EDF (EPA), a French firm behind the project.

EDF had previously revised its Hinkley Point construction plan in January 2012. It stated that the plant would not be completed by June 2026. The cost of the project will rise by 500 million to 22 billion to 23 trillion pounds.

It announced late Thursday that it would be extending the start date of generation at Hinkley Point C’s first unit to June 2027. The estimated costs of this project are between 25 billion and 26 billion pounds.

The pandemic was causing severe shortages in people, resources, and supply chains. This has limited efficiency, and it did not exclude further delays.

The company stated in a statement that “the risk of further delay for the two units has been assessed at fifteen months” assuming no new pandemic or additional effects from the conflict in Ukraine.

According to the company, “In addition, both the costs of engineering and materials as well the price of these activities have increased,” although no effect would be felt by UK customers.

With the lift of Unit 1’s dome, the next major milestone of this project will be achieved in the 2nd Quarter of 2023.

However, the cost rise will have an impact on the share price, as EDF highlighted it in its first quarter results. Jefferies, an investment firm, stated that the risk was known and documented in a research paper.

EDF shares fell on Friday morning after the company had warned that nuclear outages could cause more financial hardship than anticipated.

After corrosion issues caused by reactors that were damaged, the availability of French nuclear reactors from the company has dropped to seasonal lows. This will require several years of repairs.

These problems may make it difficult for President Emmanuel Macron to realize his plans to have France carbon neutral by 2050. His plans are dependent on the deployment of a new generation EDF reactors.

($1 = 0.8012 pounds)