Rolls-Royce on Tuesday announced an agreement with China's State Nuclear Power Technology Corp. aimed at furthering the companies' cooperation.
The memorandum of understanding opens the door to further deals in areas that include engineering support, supply chain management and instrumentation and control. In a release, Rolls-Royce noted that it currently supplies I&C systems at more than 70 percent of China's reactors, while just under 40 percent use the company's backup generators. In addition to China's robust domestic market, the agreement also envisions cooperation on projects in the UK, where Rolls-Royce is headquartered.
With 28 reactors under construction, China is far and away the world's fastest-growing market in the nuclear power industry. While the country scaled back its plans and temporarily suspended approvals for new reactors after the Fukushima Daiichi accidents in Japan, its government in 2012 announced it would restart its licensing of new Generation III reactors in coastal regions. On Friday, President Xi Jinping told government officials that the country should ramp up its construction of new coastal reactors, Xinhua reported. He cast nuclear power as a key part of plans to reduce the country's reliance on coal, which the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates was used for 69 percent of China's power production in 2011.