Dr David Clarke, fisheries scientist and marine ecologist at Swansea University, said: “These early results are very encouraging with the system clearly working. Our results show that a large majority of the tagged shad avoid an area extending some 60m from the intake heads protected by the acoustic fish deterrent system.”
The success of this trial could mean that EDF would no longer have to create over 900 acres of saltmarsh, which was intended to be environmental compensation for the project not installing an acoustic fish deterrent outlined in its 2013 planning consent.
Chris Fayers, head of environment at Hinkley Point C, said: “The successful testing of the acoustic fish deterrent is good news for the environment and for communities and farmers up and down the Severn. The system works even better than we had hoped.”
Additional testing in tanks will continue throughout the first half of 2026. The results of the research will be submitted for regulatory consideration and approval later in 2026.
Pete Kibel, managing director of Fishtek Marine, said: “This is a really exciting project for Fishtek Marine. Building on our existing acoustic deterrent technology we have now developed a highly effective system that will protect fish in the Severn Estuary and potentially be an option for many more power stations throughout the world.”
Sizewell C, another UK nuclear power plant currently under construction by EDF Energy, is also facing environmental challenges. Located in Suffolk with a planned opening of around 2030, opponents of the site – particularly the campaign group Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) – have lodged an appeal after the High Court refused an application for a judicial review of the plant’s flood defences. The concern is that the plant’s planning application lacks adequate coastal flood defences and the potential impact this could have on habitats along the coast.
A statement issued by the group said: “TASC is determined to use every avenue open to us to ensure public scrutiny and environmental assessment of the two additional huge sea defences that Sizewell C have committed to install in an extreme sea level rise scenario.”
Chris Wilson, of TASC, told the BBC that EDF Energy, knew “as far back as 2015 that two additional huge sea defences would be needed to keep the site and its 3,900 tonnes of spent fuel safe from flooding in an extreme sea level rise scenario, yet chose not to include them in their 2020 planning application – a classic example of ‘salami-slicing’.”
In July 2025, the government agreed a £38bn funding package with private investors for the project. Coinciding with this announcement, Centrica revealed it was to acquire a 15% equity stake in the project, with committed construction funding of £1.3bn.
