First SMR funding agreed by European Investment Bank

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is owned by the 27 European Union member states, who are split in their opinions on nuclear energy. In the past it has generally avoided new nuclear projects and only invested in nuclear-related safety projects, such as at Chernobyl. But in the past year or so it has issued loans for a Romanian reactor refurbishment project and for a project to extend the Georges Besse II uranium enrichment plant in Tricastin in southern France. 

This is now its first investment in a small modular reactor technology (SMR).

The money is to support Steady Energy's research and development, testing and licensing activities as it seeks to move towards commercial development, and will be provided for activities between this year and 2028.

EIB Group Vice-President Karl Nehammer said: "The support to Steady Energy is a flagship example of how the EIB Group is backing innovation to strengthen Europe's competitiveness, enhancing energy autonomy and expanding access to affordable clean energy. We are actively looking to support Europe's most promising SMR pioneers. By providing stable, low-carbon energy alongside renewables, SMRs can help build a more secure and resilient European energy mix, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and exposure to volatile energy prices."

Steady Energy CEO Tommi Nyman said: "More than 40 percent of final energy demand is heat. Most of the heat we consume comes from fossil fuels. With Steady Energy's solution, we can wean ourselves further away from imported fuels. We are extremely pleased that the EIB has decided to support Steady Energy as we proceed towards our first concrete projects in the next few years."

The EIB investment is in the form of a senior unsecured convertible loan, which gives the EIB the option to convert its investment into listed shares in the future.

The EIB said the investment was in line with the European Commission's strategy to bring Europe's first SMRs online by the early 2030s. It says it "adopts a technology-neutral approach in line with the European Union's decarbonisation goal and the objectives of ensuring security of energy supply and competitiveness in an environmentally sustainable, cost-efficient, effective, safe and socially acceptable way".

In total in 2025, the European Investment Bank agreed EUR100 billion in new financing and advisory services for 870 projects "under eight core priorities that support EU policy objectives: climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, territorial cohesion, agriculture and the bioeconomy, social infrastructure, strong global partnerships and the savings and investments union".

Steady Energy's reactor

Steady Energy was spun out of Finland's VTT Technical Research Centre in 2023. The LDR-50 SMR, with a thermal output of 50 MW, is designed to operate at around 150°C. Unlike most SMRs being developed around the world, it is not designed to generate electricity - or electricity and heat. Instead, it is designed to only produce heat and is focused on district heating, as well as industrial steam production and desalination projects.

The company has already signed agreements for 15 reactors in Finland, with its reactor design currently being assessed by the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, STUK. In June 2025, STUK said the draft concept assessment for Steady Energy's LDR-50 found that "nuclear and radiation safety, security arrangements, emergency arrangements and nuclear material safeguards solutions are such that they can be designed to meet safety requirements".

The aim is for construction of the first plant - to be the clean energy source for a district heating scheme - to begin in 2029.

Listen: Steady Energy on the September 2024 WNN podcast: