Doosan Enerbility (034020) has officially kicked off its push into the European small modular reactor market, securing a role as a strategic partner to manufacture critical equipment for Rolls-Royce SMR’s nuclear projects. The collaboration establishes a bridgehead for the South Korean company to enter the supply chain for large-scale SMR construction projects underway in the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic.
Doosan Enerbility announced on the 28th that it had been selected as a strategic partner for producing key equipment for SMR projects led by Rolls-Royce SMR. As a result, Doosan Enerbility will begin design-for-manufacturability assessments on major components — including reactors — destined for projects Rolls-Royce SMR is pursuing at the Wylfa site in the UK and the Temelín site in the Czech Republic.
Rolls-Royce SMR, established in 2021, is a specialized SMR developer whose largest shareholder is the UK aerospace and defense company Rolls-Royce PLC. The company is developing a 470-megawatt SMR design engineered to deliver stable baseload power for at least 60 years.
The partnership aligns with Rolls-Royce SMR’s concrete expansion of its European operations. In April, the company signed a contract with Great British Energy–Nuclear, the UK’s state-backed nuclear authority, and began site-specific design work for three SMR units planned for the Wylfa site. In the Czech Republic, Rolls-Royce SMR has entered into a construction readiness agreement with state-owned energy company ČEZ and is conducting site permitting and preliminary design work for the Temelín location.
The design-for-manufacturability review is a critical step that verifies whether an engineered product can be feasibly produced on the factory floor. It effectively serves as a validation by Rolls-Royce SMR of Doosan Enerbility’s production capabilities and technical expertise ahead of formal equipment orders. Passing this phase significantly increases the likelihood of subsequent actual equipment supply contracts.
“The collaboration with Rolls-Royce SMR will be an important opportunity for Doosan Enerbility to expand its role in the global SMR supply chain,” said Kim Jong-doo, president of Doosan Enerbility’s Nuclear Business Group. “We will actively support Rolls-Royce SMR’s business based on our accumulated experience and technical expertise in manufacturing nuclear primary equipment.”
Doosan Enerbility views this opportunity as a springboard to further strengthen its competitiveness in the SMR sector. The company is constructing a dedicated SMR factory at its headquarters complex in Changwon, South Korea, and is focusing on enhancing its manufacturing capabilities for critical SMR components by introducing advanced production technologies such as powder metallurgy-hot isostatic pressing. This production capacity expansion is seen as a strategic move aimed at securing orders not only from Rolls-Royce SMR but also from a broad range of future global SMR projects.