UK-Dutch partnership for deployment of SMRs at industrial parks

Wednesday, 15 January 2025

This collaboration will initially focus on the Berkeley Science and Technology Park and the Yorkshire Energy Park, with plans to expand across other sites in the United Kingdom and the European Union.

In 2024, Chiltern Vital Group (CVG) acquired the Berkeley Science and Technology Park, located next to the former Berkeley Magnox nuclear power plant in in Gloucestershire, southwest England. Vital Energi is a major shareholder in CVG, Berkeley and the Yorkshire Energy Park and is CVG's energy infrastructure and decarbonised heat partner in the UK.

With its partners - including Western Gateway, SGSC, University of Bristol, Vital Energi and Rolls-Royce SMR - CVG intends to create a world-first net-zero and nuclear technologies campus at the Berkeley Science and Technology Park. This will be the first step towards a 'net-zero super cluster' investment zone, encouraging the roll out of Rolls-Royce small modular reactor (SMRs) alongside an array of net-zero technologies.

"SMRs offer a compelling energy solution for powering this initiative, which will feature a national and international skills training centre, advanced technology hubs, AI and data-centre operations, agritech innovators, and medical isotope production facilities," said CVG CEO Chris Turner. "Our collaboration with ULC will help provide this critical service to our tenants and advance our vision for a sustainable future."

"This partnership combines CVG's successful track record in property development with ULC's expertise in clean energy solutions tailored for energy-intensive industries," said ULC-Energy CEO Dirk Rabelink. "Our clean energy cluster concept, powered by SMRs, can provide 24/7 heat, electricity, and hydrogen directly on-site, eliminating the need for costly expansions of public energy infrastructure. We are excited about the strong commercial interest in these clusters and the opportunities this collaboration with CVG brings."

The Rolls-Royce SMR is a 470 MWe design based on a small pressurised water reactor. It will provide consistent baseload generation for at least 60 years. Around 90% of the SMR - about 16 metres by 4 metres - will be built in factory conditions, limiting on-site activity primarily to assembly of pre-fabricated, pre-tested, modules which significantly reduces project risk and has the potential to drastically shorten build schedules.

In August 2022, Rolls-Royce SMR signed an exclusive agreement with ULC-Energy to collaborate on the deployment of Rolls-Royce SMR power plants in the Netherlands. ULC-Energy - established in 2021 and based in Amsterdam - aims to accelerate decarbonisation in the Netherlands by developing nuclear energy projects that efficiently integrate with residential and industrial energy networks in the country.