Oil, gas and mining company Essel Group Middle East has agreed to invest $18m in Sweden-based nuclear reactor technology developer LeadCold Reactors.
Founded in 2013, LeadCold has designed a small, corrosion-resistant nuclear reactor that will produce 3 to 10 MW of electricity over a 10-to-30 year period without requiring refuelling.
The Sealer systems are meant to be deployed in off-grid environments like Arctic communities or remote mining operations where diesel baseload is currently the default, and where solar energy is not a viable option.
Essel’s funding will support LeadCold’s completion of a pre-licensing design review of Sealer with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission as it seeks a licence to manufacture the systems in Canada by the end of 2021.
Gagan Goel, managing director of Essel, said: “This investment marks another important step forward in the development of our energy resources business. The Sealer unit that LeadCold Reactors has developed is an exciting innovation, representing a world first in lead-cooled reactor technology.
“We see a solid long-term investment opportunity from the commercialisation of this unique reactor technology in the off-grid power generation market.”