AFRY, a Swedish engineering, project management, and advising firm, and GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) have formalized a non-exclusive partnership to promote the deployment of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), with a focus on the BWRX-300 SMR technology. Under a Main Services Agreement, AFRY will provide a variety of engineering and consulting services by leveraging its extensive presence across Europe, existing industry expertise, and local understanding. The alliance is designed to give Swedish industry access to high-value possibilities so they may participate in the growing European and international SMR market. As activity in this area accelerates, the agreement highlights a coordinated approach to SMR deployment through merging industrial and technological capabilities.
By combining AFRY’s technical capabilities with GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s BWRX-300 technology and worldwide project experience, the partnership creates a framework designed to facilitate effective, repeatable, and scalable project execution of SMR deployment across numerous European initiatives. AFRY will provide core engineering services and assist in preparing a licensing application for the BWRX-300 to be submitted to the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM). This phase of the regulations pertaining to the use of SMRs in Sweden is crucial. “This agreement reflects our commitment to building a strong Swedish and European industrial ecosystem around the BWRX-300, going beyond reactor technology to enable long-term collaboration, local capability development and regional value creation,” said GVH CEO Jason Cooper.
“Through the collaboration with GE Vernova Hitachi, we aim to help position Sweden as a key hub in the future SMR value chain as well as advancing Sweden’s nuclear power programme,” said Elon Hägg, EVP and Head of Global Division Energy at AFRY. The partnership builds on earlier developments, including a March 2022 memorandum of understanding between Swedish SMR project developer Kärnfull Next and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy regarding the deployment of the BWRX-300 in Sweden. At the policy level, the Swedish government received an application for state aid in December 2025 supporting proposals for either five GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 reactors or three Rolls-Royce SMRs, aimed at delivering approximately 1,500 MW capacity at Ringhals on the Värö Peninsula. The application was submitted by Videberg Kraft AB, a project entity owned by Vattenfall AB and supported by multiple industrial stakeholders through the Industrikraft i Sverige AB consortium.
The BWRX-300 itself is a 300 MWe water-cooled, natural circulation SMR equipped with passive safety systems. It builds on the design and licensing foundation of GVH’s U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission-certified ESBWR boiling water reactor and incorporates the existing, licensed GNF2 fuel design. Construction of the first BWRX-300 is currently underway at Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington site in Canada, with completion targeted by the end of the decade. These developments collectively reinforce momentum around SMR deployment, highlighting continued progress in technology, regulation, and industrial collaboration across key markets.
