Funding boost sets Rolls-Royce SMR on path to generation

The next generation of low cost, low carbon nuclear power technology that can be delivered at scale has been brought forward following a successful equity raise.

Rolls-Royce Group, BNF Resources UK Limited and Exelon Generation 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 (UKRI) funding, first announced by the PM Boris Johnson in ‘The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution’.

Tom Samson, CEO, Rolls-Royce SMR, said: “The capitalisation of Rolls-Royce SMR takes us a step closer to achieving a unique, and most importantly investable, proposition in nuclear energy. It is a major vote of confidence in British nuclear technology and the potential for building a world-leading domestic supply chain.”

Rolls-Royce said the business will now move ahead at pace with 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. The company added that SMR technology will be available to the UK grid in the early 2030s and that the potential for exporting it ‘is unprecedented’.