US looks to back $104 million micro nuclear plant project in Britain

By Susanna Twidale

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. start-up Last Energy said on Friday it had received a tentative offer of $103.7 million in debt financing from Washington to set up the first of four planned quick-build, micro-sized nuclear power plants in Britain.

There has been growing interest in micro plants as governments, including Britain's, look to use the technology to cut emissions while avoiding the huge upfront costs and long development times of more conventional projects.

Washington D.C.-based Last Energy said it had received a letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States - a 90-year-old institution owned by the U.S. government that helps finance exports of U.S. goods and services.

"Upon final commitment, the Bank’s facility would cover Last Energy’s entire costs for a single power plant installation," the company said in a statement.

The company said it was planning to build four 20-megawatt (MW) micro reactors at its site in Bridgend, southern Wales, and the first could be up and running by 2027.

Large-scale projects - typically a gigawatt (1,000 MW) and larger - can take more than a decade to build.

The micro plant could be used to power mid-sized industrial projects and data centres, it added.

Britain's Labour government has said micro nuclear plants - and small ones usually up to 500 MW - will play an important role in helping the country meet its target of net zero emissions by 2050.

Britain also has a target to largely decarbonise the power sector by 2030, but it is unlikely many small nuclear plants will be built by then.

The Export-Import Bank (EXIM) shut in 2015 after Republicans in Congress blocked reauthorisation, then reopened in 2019 with support from then-President Donald Trump. 

A letter of interest is a non-binding indication of EXIM's general interest in a proposed project and provides general financing terms that it is prepared to consider. EXIM in October approved a final commitment for a loan for preliminary work on development for a small modular reactor project in Romania.

(Reporting By Susanna Twidale; Additional reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington; Editing by Andrew Heavens)