Industria and Rolls-Royce SMR plans take step forward

Friday, 26 April 2024

The Polish Minister of Climate and Environment needed to get opinions from a range of government departments - the Minister of State Assets, the Internal Security Agency and Poland's chief Geologist - that the investment would have a "positive impact".

Now it has received all the required opinions, the ministry is able to move ahead to the next step which would be to issue a Decision In Principle to deploy Rolls-Royce SMRs, a 470 MWe design based on a small pressurised water reactor.

Last year, state-owned Industria - part of Industrial Development Agency JSC (IDA) - selected Rolls-Royce SMR technology to fulfil the zero-emission energy goals of the Central Hydrogen Cluster in Poland and as part of their plans to produce 50,000 tonnes of low-carbon hydrogen every year.

Industria submitted its application for a Decision in Principle in December to Polish Climate and Environment Minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska, and has now welcomed the receipt of the last required opinion, from Poland's Internal Security Agency.

Szczepan Ruman, President of the Management Board of Industria, said: "The positive opinion from the Internal Security Agency is a very important document for us, not only because it is the last opinion we have been waiting for and the Minister of Climate and Environment has complete documentation to decide on issuing the Decision in Principle. The positive opinion from the Internal Security Agency is important for us primarily because in this opinion, the agency - responsible for the internal security of the state, as well as for supervising the energy sector - confirms that our planned investment has a positive impact on the security of the Republic of Poland."

He added that with the Central Hydrogen Cluster he hoped "it will be possible to build a significant order portfolio from several entities for SMR units using Rolls-Royce technology, giving the Polish side a strong position in negotiations on the delivery terms of individual units, as well as, above all, in terms of the participation of the Polish industry in a supply chain for RR SMRs and thus the creation of attractive jobs in Poland."

Alan Woods, Rolls-Royce SMR’s Director of Strategy and Business Development, said: "We are delighted the Polish Government has concluded that the deployment of our unique 'factory-built' nuclear power plants would have a positive impact for the country, and we look forward to a Decision in Principle to deploy Rolls-Royce SMRs in Poland."

In July last year, Industria signed a letter of intent with the Kostrzyn-Słubicka Special Economic Zone SA (KSSSE) regarding cooperation on the location of a modular power plant based on Rolls-Royce SMR technology in the areas covered by the KSSSE.

Last month, Industria also signed a letter of intent with Chiltern Vital Group. With its partners - including Western Gateway, SGSC, University of Bristol, Vital Energi and Rolls-Royce SMR - Chiltern Vital Group intends to create a world-first net-zero and nuclear technologies campus at a site next to the former Berkeley Magnox nuclear power plant in Gloucestershire, southwest England. This will be the first step towards a 'net-zero super cluster' investment zone, encouraging the roll out of Rolls-Royce SMRs alongside an array of net-zero technologies.

The main provisions of the agreement include cooperation in: training and development of skills of Polish students and specialists; exchange of know-how to accelerate the licensing process of components dedicated to the nuclear industry; joint development of related technologies to create large low-carbon regional technology parks; and creating private financing models to ensure the viability of small modular reactor projects.