According to the Financial Times, UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Grant Shapps says that the British engineering group Rolls-Royce is in a ”good position” to develop technology for a new generation of small nuclear power plants in the country.

The statement comes as the energy minister on Tuesday launches an international competition to develop small nuclear power plants. The competition is taking place as part of the UK government’s target of having 25% of the country’s electricity powered by nuclear power by 2050. In comparison, nuclear power accounts for 15% of the country’s electricity sources today.

According to the Financial Times, Rolls-Royce has already received GBP 210m in government funding to develop small nuclear power plants.

However, Rolls-Royce is not the only company that will be allowed to try its hand at developing the new technology. Shapps tells the newspaper that up to four different technologies could be shortlisted in the international competition to receive funding from the UK government for development work.

US nuclear power plant developers GE Hitachi and X-Energy are among the companies developing proposals for the competition.

According to the Financial Times, the small nuclear power plants will not be operational until the 2030s, but the energy minister expects to have a shortlist of finalists to develop the small power plants by the fall.

The international competition comes after years of attempts by successive UK governments to open new nuclear power stations, which have been thwarted by delays and other setbacks. Since 2010, only one nuclear power plant has started construction in the UK.