Rolls-Royce has announced the launch of its £400m modular nuclear reactor business, which will deliver the next generation of low cost, low carbon nuclear power technology
The UK SMR consortium includes contractor BAM Nuttall, who will provide innovative technology and mitigation to improve cost-effectiveness to the delivery of the work.
Rolls-Royce Group, BNF Resources UK Limited and Exelon Generation Limited will invest £195m across a period of around three years.
The funding will enable the business to secure grant funding of £210m from UK Research and Innovation funding, first announced by the UK Prime Minister in ‘The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution’.
A step towards a greener Britain
Rolls-Royce SMR is using nuclear technology, alongside factory-made module manufacturing and on-site assembly system, to harness decades of British engineering and design and manufacturing knowledge.
It brings together the best of the UK industry to ensure a decarbonisation solution that will be available to the UK grid in the early 2030s.
A single Rolls-Royce SMR power station will occupy the footprint of two football pitches and power approximately one million homes.
It can support both on-grid electricity and a range of off-grid clean energy solutions, enabling the decarbonisation of industrial processes and the production of clean fuels, such as sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and green hydrogen, to support the energy transition in the wider heat and transportation sectors.
‘Tackling the global threat of climate change’
Warren East, Rolls-Royce CEO, said: “The SMR programme is one of the ways that Rolls-Royce is meeting the need to ensure the UK continues to develop innovative ways to tackle the global threat of climate change.
“With the Rolls-Royce SMR technology, we have developed a clean energy solution which can deliver cost competitive and scalable net zero power for multiple applications from grid and industrial electricity production to hydrogen and synthetic fuel manufacturing.
“The business could create up to 40,000 jobs, through UK deployment and export enabled growth. As a major shareholder in Rolls-Royce SMR, we will continue to support its path to successful deployment.”
‘Reinvigorating supply chains’
Business and energy secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, said: “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the UK to deploy more low carbon energy than ever before and ensure greater energy independence.
“Small Modular Reactors offer exciting opportunities to cut costs and build more quickly, ensuring we can bring clean electricity to people’s homes and cut our already-dwindling use of volatile fossil fuels even further.
“In working with Rolls-Royce, we are proud to back the largest engineering collaboration the UK has ever seen – uniting some of the most respected and innovating organisations on the planet.
“Not only can we maximise British content, create new intellectual property and reinvigorate supply chains, but also position our country as a global leader in innovative nuclear technologies we can potentially export elsewhere.
“By harnessing British engineering and ingenuity, we can double down on our plan to deploy more home-grown, affordable clean energy in this country.”
