Wales could house mini nuclear power stations
NORTH Wales has emerged as a frontrunner for a new generation of mini-nuclear power stations which could create 40,000 new jobs, after Rolls-Royce confirmed it has secured nearly £200m of private-sector funding to support their development.
The funding for the new venture, Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor (SMR), has come from its parent company Rolls-Royce Group, BNF Resources UK and Exelon Generation. They will invest £195m over a three-year period.
The funding will enable the business to secure grant funding of £210m in UK Research and Innovation funding.
No sites for the planned new nuclear stations, which are expected to cost around £2bn each, have been identified. However, Wylfa on Anglesey and Trawsfynydd in Gwynedd have been tipped as ideal locations.
SMR, which will continue to seek further investment, will now proceed with a range of parallel delivery activities, including entry to the UK generic design assessment (GDA) process and identifying sites for the factories which will manufacture the modules that enable on-site assembly of the power plants.
Warren East, Rolls-Royce chief executive, said: “With the RollsRoyce 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.”
Nine-tenths of an individual RollsRoyce SMR power plant will be built or assembled in factory conditions and around 80% could be delivered by a UK supply chain.
A single Rolls-Royce SMR power station will occupy the footprint of two football pitches and power about one million homes.
Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “This is a once-in-alifetime opportunity for the UK to deploy more low-carbon energy than ever before and ensure greater energy independence.”
Tom Samson, chief executive, Rolls-Royce SMR, said: “Rolls-Royce SMR has been established to deliver a low-cost, deployable, scalable and investable programme of new nuclear power plants.
“Our transformative approach to delivering nuclear power, based on predictable factory-built components, is unique and the nuclear technology is proven.
“Investors see a tremendous opportunity to decarbonise the UK through stable baseload nuclear power.”
Paul Stein, chief technology officer, Rolls-Royce, and chairman of Rolls-Royce SMR, added: “By deploying SMRs in the UK and overseas we will be making a significant contribution to decarbonisation.”
Sean Benson, director of BNF Capital, said: “BNF has an established history of energy market investing and we are proud to be a part of Rolls-Royce SMR in this exciting opportunity.
“Following reviews of numerous proposals we found that this project, featuring a highly experienced team, was the most realistic, affordable and scalable solution for provision of carbon-free baseload and alternative power requirements.”
Ralph Hunter, chief operating officer of Exelon Nuclear Partners and vice-president of Exelon Generation, said: “We believe that small modular reactors could become a crucial part of the world’s clean energy mix and we are confident that, as an operational partner, we can help develop, deploy and operate a fleet of world-class SMRs.”