Grimsby has been revealed as a potential location for a £200 million new factory for Rolls-Royce’s emerging nuclear reactors.
Two sites in North East Lincolnshire are included in an eight-strong shortlist compiled by the engineering giant.
The prize would be 200 jobs, the huge investment by a prestige manufacturer and a widening of the area’s Energy Estuary credentials.
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The FTSE 100 firm had launched a competition at the start of the year asking for development bodies to bring forward locations.
Pioneer Park at Stallingborough and Port of Grimsby have been selected - with ABP bringing the former Tioxide site to market as Rolls-Royce released the list.
Two more sites in the Yorkshire and Humber region - Catterick and Ferrybridge - also make the list, together with sites in Sunderland, Newton Aycliffe, Deeside, North Wales and Carlisle.
It would be used to manufacture the heavy vessels for the new small modular reactor fleet. The first of three planned factories, and the largest and most complex facility, construction would begin once the go-ahead has been received to build a fleet of SMRs in the UK.
Rolls-Royce SMR chief executive, Tom Samson, said: “I would like to thank everyone who sent in a submission suggesting locations in their region for the first Rolls-Royce SMR factory. The response was fantastic and shows the ambition and appetite of the UK to build and operate a fleet of SMRs which will provide affordable, low-carbon electricity for generations to come.
“The final location will come from the shortlist and will result in significant investment, long-term high-skilled jobs and will support the UK Government’s aspirations for levelling-up. “Today’s announcement is another example of the pace of our project and why Rolls-Royce SMR is the UK’s domestic nuclear energy champion.”
A technical team has reviewed potential shortlisted locations based on their access to major road networks, local skills and local incentives for renewable power generation.
Two other plants are also set to be built, to focus on the construction of mechanical engineering and plumbing parts for the reactors, and their locations have yet to be decided. They will be picked from the full list of areas that pitched for the project.
Last month Rolls-Royce said that it can only deliver its first mini nuclear plant by its 2029 target date if the Government commits this year to the technology it needs.
Rolls-Royce has been a nuclear reactor plant designer since the start of the UK nuclear submarine programme in the Fifties. It said the Rolls-Royce SMRs will draw upon standard nuclear energy technology that has been used in 400 reactors around the world.
Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng, said: “This is fantastic news for Sunderland, North Yorkshire, Deeside, Lincolnshire and Carlisle which, if these SMRs go ahead, could be at the forefront of manufacturing components for this British-made tech.
“Backed by £210m, SMRs have the potential to provide quicker and cheaper low-carbon nuclear power, and today’s announcement underlines the potential for new jobs around the country created by embracing this new technology.”
Pioneer Park is the new industrial park being created just off the A180. Already home to high-growth eco-tech firm Myenergi, it is close to Port of Immingham, in an area that boasts a strong heritage in pipework and fabrication. Companies there have already won work in the nuclear sector.
Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership has put the first site forward with ABP behind the latter.
Leader of NELC, Cllr Philip Jackson, said: "This is great news for North East Lincolnshire. We have been backing the renewable energy agenda for some time now, and the fit with our economic future is perfect.
“We built Pioneer Park with the aim of attracting investment to the area, specifically advanced manufacturing and alongside investment comes jobs for local people and different, and attractive, aspirations for our young people.
“Rolls-Royce Small Modular Reactors are at the cutting edge of innovation and to be the location chosen as the first site manufacturing components for these zero-carbon power stations would be a perfect fit for the Energy Estuary which has already attracted offshore wind and is leading the way to industrial decarbonisation.
“We know that there’s work still to be done to try to draw the investment here – the Stallingborough site is one of several nationally. It’s not only the 200-plus quality jobs that will come with the investment once the plant is operational, but the short term construction jobs allied to that.
“Additionally, the knowledge that after the first manufacturing plant, Rolls Royce are planning others, alongside further expansion of the first one, and export opportunities, puts us in a great position.
“There’s a lot of work goes on in the background to put forward sites like Pioneer Park for potential investment, and I’d like to thank the teams for getting us this far.
“Rolls Royce will be doing a lot of work in the background to make sure that they get the best business deal possible. We want to be in a place where we try to top that list.”
ABP has flagged the former Tioxide site it acquired a few years back for low carbon energy production, having used a first phase of it for car storage as Brexit trades and Covid's impact on the market were handled.
The factory is expected to be around 23,000 sq m in size, equivalent to three football pitches.
A Rolls-Royce SMR power station will have the capacity to generate 470MW of low carbon energy, equivalent to more than 150 onshore wind turbines and enough to power a million homes. It will provide consistent baseload generation for at least 60 years, helping to provide balance through the roll out of renewable generation.
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