SGE files for a 4.2GW, 14-reactor BWRX-300 fleet across three UK sites

SGE (formerly Synthos Green Energy) submitted an application under the UK's Advanced Nuclear Framework to develop a 4.2GW fleet — 14 GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 reactors across three sites (six units at the first, four at each of two more), equal to about 11% of UK power demand. Each reactor is estimated at £2.2–2.5B (~£35B total), deployed under a contract-for-difference framework, targeting first power from 2034. The consortium includes Samsung C&T, Laing O'Rourke, Aecon, Google Cloud, Fermi Development and Etara. The BWRX-300 completed Step 2 of the UK's Generic Design Assessment in December 2025.

Why it matters

This is fleet-scale, not pilot-scale — the largest SMR proposal the UK has seen, and a private developer betting ~£35B on the BWRX-300, the same design already under construction at Darlington in Canada. For GE Vernova it would be an order-book transformation; for the sector it tests whether CfD economics can finance SMRs the way they financed offshore wind. Google Cloud's presence hints at the demand anchor: data-center power.

What to watch

The UK government's response under the framework and site selection — and whether a CfD strike price emerges that other SMR developers can underwrite against.