Rolls-Royce to get Qatari funding for small nuclear reactors

Rolls-Royce Holdings has reached an agreement under which Qatar will invest in the British company’s small modular reactor business.

The company already signed a deal with the oil-producing nation to invest billions in green engineering projects. This latest move will see Rolls-Royce give up some of its stake in the SMR project, according to the Daily Telegraph, as Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund takes a 10 per cent equity share.

Qatar will invest 85m pounds ($112m) in Rolls-Royce SMR, the separate unit created for the project. The Rolls-Royce SMR business is now fully funded, the company said in the statement.

Rolls-Royce, which has seen its aerospace business gutted by the pandemic, is looking to branch out into new technologies including small nuclear reactors. CEO Warren East has said he wants to rebalance the business in the wake of the coronavirus.

UK Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the investment “is a clear vote of confidence in the UK’s global leadership in nuclear innovation.”

The government invested 250m pounds in the project as part of the latest funding round, which has given Rolls enough money to proceed with obtaining design approval and identifying locations for on-site assembly of its plants.