A consortium led by Polish billionaire Michał Sołowow is planning a £35bn (€40bn, $46bn) fleet of 14 small modular reactors (SMRs) on three sites across the UK, with the first units expected to enter commercial operation in 2034.

Sołowow’s nuclear development company SGE plans to invest between £2.2bn to £2.5bn in each 300 MW reactor alongside a string of industrial partners including the US manufacturer GE Vernova and Japanese industrial conglomerate Hitachi, which are responsible for the design of the BWRX-300 SMR technology that will be used for the project.

The Polish entrepreneur and rally driver plans to use £35bn of private capital to roll out enough SMRs to power the equivalent of eight million UK homes for more than 60 years, or even power data centre investments alongside Google.

The consortium, known as SGE SMR, hopes to secure three sites for the reactors by this time next year as well as a government support contract which would guarantee a competitive price for its electricity once it starts generating in 2034.