The UK company said the study will cover all aspects of deployment including grid suitability, cooling, emergency planning, human resources, licensing feasibility, economics and supply chain.
Rolls-Royce is leading a consortium that is designing a low-cost factory built SMR. Its standardised, factory-made components and advanced manufacturing processes push costs down, while the rapid assembly of the modules and components inside a weatherproof canopy on the power station site itself avoid costly schedule disruptions.
Fermi Energia was founded by nuclear scientists, energy experts and entrepreneurs to bring SMRs to Estonia to meet its climate goals, help the economy develop and gain energy security.
The consortium led by Rolls-Royce is working with its partners and the UK government to secure a commitment for a fleet of factory built nuclear power stations, each providing at least 440 MW of electricity, to be operational within a decade, helping the governments around the world net zero obligations.
Fermi Energia said recently it had raised the €2.5m it needs to start the official planning process for the deployment of a small modular reactor in the Baltic country.
The Rolls-Royce agreement is not Fermi Energia’s first with a potential reactor supplier. In October 2019, the company signed an agreement with US-based GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy on the potential deployment of GEH’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor in Estonia.
According to Mr Kallemets, Fermi is also following closely the licensing process for an SMR developed by Rolls-Royce in the UK, with a memorandum of understanding related to the technology expected to be signed in the near future.
The Estonian company, established in 2019, has said it is “technology neutral” and is following the licensing process for SMR designs in the US and Canada to see which technologies are suitable.
