Joint venture planned for commercialisation of Newcleo SMR
France-based innovative reactor developer Newcleo is to create a joint venture with Italy's NextChem to develop a new generation commercial-scale power plant, based on Newcleo's LFR-AS-200 small modular lead-cooled fast reactor.
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According to an agreement signed with NextChem's parent company - Italian technology and engineering group Maire SpA - upon execution of binding agreements Newcleo will take a 40% stake in NextChem's newly incorporated company focused on creating new intellectual property and performing technical services.
The deal will result in NextChem being granted newly issued shares up to 5% of Newcleo's share capital at pre-money valuation, subject to the achievement of certain milestones - the first of which is Newcleo's entrance into the joint venture company, and the last being linked to the final investment decision by the first client.
The transaction is expected to be finalised by the end of February 2025.
Under the agreement, NextChem will contribute skills, management and engineering competences and tools to the joint venture, as well as a dedicated commercial platform for the deployment of LFR-AS-200 projects.
Newcleo will develop the nuclear reactor for its own LFR-AS-200 technology, while NextChem will leverage its own know-how to enable the joint venture company to deliver the extended basic design, procure the critical proprietary equipment relevant to the conventional island and balance of plant of the nuclear power plant, and provide project management/integration services to Newcleo.
"The conventional island and balance of plant are essential to convert nuclear energy into electrical power dispatchable to the grid or used to serve chemical districts according to NextChem's e-Factory format, thus contributing to the decarbonisation of the chemical industry by producing low-carbon chemicals and e-fuels," the partners said.
The joint venture company will also provide integration services to other small modular reactor (SMR) and advanced modular reactor vendors who are not competing with Newcleo. "This business model will serve the industrialisation of the energy transition for any customer potentially interested in implementing power plants based on Generation IV nuclear technologies," they said.
Tecnimont - another Maire subsidiary - will be granted a preferred partner status for the delivery of projects, thanks to its state-of-the-art modularisation approach to optimise construction and planning methodology, reducing time and costs.
"This collaboration is a clear representation of our ability to offer a complete range of services for energy transition combining our innovative vision on sustainable technology solutions with our traditional competences in integrated engineering solutions," said Maire CEO Alessandro Bernini. "Today we set a further milestone in our progressive path to implement carbon-neutral chemistry models based on safe, reliable and competitive energy supply."
Newcleo CEO Stefano Buono said: "This joint venture brings together the best of our respective expertise and skills to trailblaze the delivery of new nuclear technologies. Maire's sustainable technology value proposition provided through NextChem, strong track record in international EPC delivery, optimising process plant and implementing modularisation makes them the perfect partner for the modular design of our Advanced Lead-Cooled Fast Reactors. Their approach to a circular economy dovetails with our aim to close the nuclear fuel cycle and provide a sustainable solution to the issue of waste.
"This venture marks a new era for collaboration in the sector, which alongside other partnerships will be instrumental in realising the energy transition. We are glad to see major technology and engineering companies entering the nuclear business' fast race towards a decarbonised world."
According to Paris-headquartered Newcleo's delivery roadmap, the first non-nuclear pre-cursor prototype of its reactor is expected to be ready by 2026 in Italy, the first reactor operational in France by the end of 2031, while the final investment decision for the first commercial power plant is expected around 2029.
At the same time, Newcleo will directly invest in a mixed uranium/plutonium oxide (MOX) plant to fuel its reactors. In June 2022, Newcleo announced it had contracted France's Orano for feasibility studies on the establishment of a MOX production plant.
