Qatar Investment Authority Buys Stake in Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor Business
Posted on 12/20/2021
Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor (Rolls-Royce SMR Ltd) is a business that was formed in November 2021 to bring forward and deliver at scale the next generation of low cost, low carbon nuclear power technology. At that time, Rolls-Royce Group, BNF Resources UK Limited, and Exelon Generation Limited agreed to invest £195 million across a period of around three years. The funding will enable the business to secure grant funding of £210 million from U.K. Research and Innovation funding, first announced by the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in “The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution.” BNF Resources UK Limited is owned by the French billionaire Perrodo family, which made its fortune from Perenco, the private oil company. BNF has an established history of energy market investing.
Rolls-Royce has been a nuclear reactor plant designer since the start of the UK nuclear submarine program in the 1950s. A single Rolls-Royce SMR power station will occupy the footprint of two football pitches and power approximately one million homes. Rolls-Royce SMR will draw upon standard nuclear energy technology that has been used in 400 reactors around the world.
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) joined the group of investors in December 2021. The QIA agreed to invest £85 million in Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactor for a 10% equity stake.
Keywords: Rolls Royce Plc, Rolls-Royce Holdings.