Thursday, October 31, 2024

There are currently four technology providers on the shortlist for the UK’s small modular reactor (SMR) selection process, with two of them expected to be chosen to receive government support to deploy multiple units at a selected site. The four are GE-Hitachi, Holtec Britain, Rolls-Royce SMR and Westinghouse Electric Company.

The selection process was intended to be completed this year, but the Labor Government’s first budget since taking office in July said “final decisions will be made in the spring”. Great British Nuclear (GBN), the independent body leading the process, added that it had issued an invitation to negotiate to the four companies, “after which they will be invited to submit final offers, which GBN will then evaluate.”

Gwen Parry Jones, chief executive of Great British Nuclear, said: “Our SMR selection is on track to provide Britain with new nuclear energy over the next decade and beyond. We look forward to completing this complex and innovative acquisition in the coming months.”

Meanwhile, a separate commercial pipeline document for GBN was published earlier this week, suggesting that the acquisition of a project delivery partner for each selected SMR technology provider would be for an “estimated contract value” over 10 years of GBP 600 million to GBP 800 million (USD 778 million to USD 1.04 billion). . Lists an estimated procurement start date in 2025 and a contract start date in September 2026. Estimates that a separate GBP 200 million contract for “Plant Balancing – Manufacturing, Supply, Installation” would see procurement begin in 2028 and the contract would begin in 2030. .

Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the UK Nuclear Industry Association, said: “While it is good to see the UK SMR competition reaching this stage, the key thing is to reach a decision as soon as possible without further delays in schedule now published. Confidence in The UK Government’s pronouncements on support for SMRs build on the delivery of commitments made today. It is vital for supply chain confidence, as well as driving nuclear ambition further. “The government should empower Great British Nuclear to buy more sites, starting with Heysham, so we can deliver a fleet of SMRs for clean, reliable British energy and good, skilled jobs.”

Sizewell C

The UK has plans to increase its nuclear power capacity to 24 GW by 2050. As well as SMRs, there are also ambitious targets for new gigascale plants, the first of which is under construction at Hinkley Point C. A replica of that two EPR unit scheme is being planned at Sizewell C.

In the Budget, which is when the UK government sets out its fiscal plans and outlines many spending priorities, he gave an update on the Sizewell C project, saying: “New nuclear power will play an important role in helping the UK achieve energy security and clean energy”. energy and at the same time guarantee thousands of good and qualified jobs. The deal provides £2.7bn of funding to continue the development of Sizewell C until 2025-26. The process to raise capital and debt for the project will soon move into its final stages and will conclude in. “As with other major multi-year commitments, a Final Investment Decision on whether to proceed with the project will be made in Phase 2 of the Spending Review.”

In September it was announced that the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero’s Sizewell C Development Expenditure Scheme (Devex) would benefit from up to £5.5bn in grants to reach a Final Investment Decision and the support given in the The plan’s framework would be made up primarily of capital injections by the UK government.

The plan led by EDF is for Sizewell C to include two EPRs producing 3.2 GW of electricity, enough to power the equivalent of around six million homes for at least 60 years. It would be a design similar to the two-unit plant being built at Hinkley Point C, in Somerset, with the aim of building it more quickly and at a lower cost thanks to the experience gained in what is the first new construction project nuclear power in the UK for around three decades.

The UK government has been seeking investment in the Sizewell C project and launched pre-qualification for potential investors as the first stage of a capital raising process last September. It has also passed legislation in Parliament allowing a new way of financing new large infrastructure projects: a regulated asset base (RAB) financing model, in which consumers can contribute to the cost of new nuclear plants during the of construction. Under the previous Contracts for Difference system, developers finance the construction of a nuclear project and only begin receiving income when the plant begins generating electricity.