Agreement part of feasibility study into opportunities for SMRs The Rolls-Royce SMR is capable of generating 470 MW of low-carbon electricity for at least 60 years. Courtesy Rolls-Royce. Nuclear operator Fortum and UK-based Rolls-Royce SMR have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore opportunities for the deployment of small modular reactors in Finland and Sweden.

The agreement is part of Fortum’s new build feasibility study exploring the prerequisites for new nuclear in Finland and Sweden.

Laurent Leveugle, Fortum’s head of new build feasibility study, said the company is especially interested in learning more about Rolls-Royce SMR’s delivery model. “Any potential investment decision will be made at a later stage,” he said.

Rolls-Royce SMR was established in November 2021 to bring Rolls-Royce’s factory-built SMR to market. The company said the plant is capable of generating 470 MW of low-carbon electricity for at least 60 years.

The company is working to deploy its SMR design in England and Wales by the early part of next decade.

It recently announced a final shortlist of three sites – all in the north of England – from which it will select the location of its first factory. Rolls-Royce has also signed a memorandum of intent with Polish industrial group Industria that could lead to the deployment of SMRs in central and southern Poland in the 2030s.

Fortum, based in Espoo near the Finnish capital Helsinki, owns and operates the two-unit Loviisa nuclear power station in Finland.

Fortum said recently it is to carry out a “thorough investigation” into the financial viability of building new nuclear power stations in Finland and Sweden.