France's Calogena Receives EU Funding to Build First SMR

Recently, French small modular reactor developer Calogena has secured €40 million (US$44.6 million) in funding through the European Commission's Innovation Fund to support the construction of its first commercial nuclear reactor in Pierrelatte, southern France.

As a subsidiary of France's Gorgé Group, Calogena has been committed since its founding in 2021 to developing the CAL30 water-cooled small modular reactor, designed specifically to provide carbon-free energy for urban district heating networks. The reactor has a thermal power of 30 MWth and adopts a simple design based on a low-temperature, low-pressure pool-type reactor, offering extremely high safety and the ability to be reliably deployed near district heating networks. Once built, a single unit can continuously supply localized low-carbon heat to approximately 20,000 households, and the company plans to put it into commercial operation as early as 2030.

The EU Innovation Fund, one of the world's largest funding programs for the deployment of innovative net-zero and low-carbon technologies, is financed by revenues from the auctioning of EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) allowances and aims to support clean energy investment and industrial decarbonization across Europe. Julien Dereux, Executive Chairman of Calogena, stated that this funding injection not only represents authoritative recognition of the project's technological maturity but also marks the official launch of its first commercial demonstration project. Previously, the company had received more than €50 million in funding support under France 2030.

As one of four SMR designs currently being assessed by the French Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority (ASN), Calogena is accelerating its market deployment in Europe and globally. In addition to the Pierrelatte demonstration project, the company is actively competing for a supply project of more than 15 reactors in Finland, and in June this year signed a cooperation agreement with Veolia, a leading European district heating company, to jointly explore the broad potential of SMRs in decarbonizing district heating networks in Central and Eastern Europe.