Two Norwegian councils have joined forces with local energy companies to develop a power plant containing up to 1.5GW of small modular reactors (SMRs), equivalent to 10% of the country’s current generating capacity.
Trondheim Nuclear Power (Trondheimsleia Kjernkraft) brings together the Aure and Heim municipalities, power and telecoms utility NEAS, and SMR specialist Norsk Kjernkraft.
The proposed site for the plant is an industrial park on the border between Aure and Heim.
Norsk Kjernekraft submitted a preliminary plan to the Norwegian Ministry of Energy in November 2023.
Norway is emerging as a European leader in the adoption of SMR technology, with a number of projects being planned around the country (see further reading).
Earlier this month, the Norwegian government commissioned an environmental impact assessment for the plant, and work on a planning application has been underway since 2023.
Marit Liabo Sandvik, mayor of Heim, and Henning Torset, mayor of Aure, set out their goals for the scheme in a press release.
They said: “Nuclear power can meet the ever-increasing demand for power while meeting all the other goals and was therefore considered a good option. The reception among the locals has so far been good, and we will work to ensure that this continues.”
Jonny Hesthammer, the chief executive of Norsk Kjernekraft, said the plant would have a lifetime of up to a hundred years, so “the grandchildren of the children of today will actually be able to have jobs at the facility”.
NEAS managing director Knut Hansen said the plant would support the growth of energy-intensive industry in the region, saying “all new needs” would be met “for a long time to come”.
Norsk Kjernekraft was established in 2022 by M Vest Energy to build SMR-based power stations that would provide a baseload to support wind and solar generation.
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