Kwasi Kwarteng discusses the Channel energy line
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Rolls-Royce is looking for locations in the UK to house a factory that will build its fleet of small nuclear reactors (SMRs) after reaching a deal with the Government. They will provide a revolutionary new way of providing nuclear energy, being much smaller, cheaper and quicker to build than power plants. Prime minister Boris Johnson has backed SMRs as part of his 10-point plan to invigorate a “green industrial revolution” in Britain.
Mr Kwarteng told Express.co.uk: “Post-Brexit Britain is open for business and this investment from Rolls-Royce represents yet another vote of confidence in great British innovation and the future of the UK economy.
“The £210million we are providing to the Rolls-Royce SMR consortium is just one of the ways we’re working to strengthen energy security, attract investment and re-industrialise regions across the UK.
“Through the SMR programme, not only could we ensure greater energy independence, but create new British intellectual property we can then export around the world so we’re less dependent on other countries for technology.”
Number four on Mr Johnson’s same green plan is to “back our world-leading car manufactures” to “transform our national infrastructure” to support electric vehicles.
And the UK is doing just that as it looks to move away from petrol and diesel in the coming years.
On Friday, promising new start-up BritishVolt secured £2.5billion in investment to produce its electric vehicle batteries in Northumberland.
The funds included up to £100million from the Government.
BritishVolt expects to be able to start construction in April, on the site of a former power plant’s coal store.
Mr Kwarteng added: “Our renewed mission to develop new nuclear also comes alongside the investment we’re making to support BritishVolt to open their new gigafactory in Blyth to mass-produce batteries for electric cars.
“This is another company looking to invest right here in the UK thanks to the efforts we’re making.
“All of this puts our country in pole position for shielding ourselves from future volatile global gas prices – and secures the place of post-Brexit Britain on the global stage.”
The decision comes as European nations look to reduce their energy reliance on foreign power, especially Russia.
Europe is Russia’s main market for its oil and natural gas exports.
The EU currently imports almost 40 percent of its gas from Moscow.
Thankfully, the UK’s reliance is much lower, but if all countries can diversify their supplies then the risk of volatile prices can be reduced.
The eye-watering spike in the cost of gas is also painful for domestic consumers and businesses.
Over the past year, we have seen wholesale prices smash records time and time again – which is pushing bills up for the homeowners.
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The UK is rapidly expanding the amount it generates from other sources like wind and solar.
But wind speeds in recent months have been much lower than average and that has added to the energy crunch.
As the UK dials down its use of gas in the global shift to net-zero it will need to find other reliable sources of low-carbon energy.
A new generation of nuclear reactors looks highly likely to provide the baseload, with the likes of hydrogen looking to also play a key role on top.
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