The Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region is spearheading the Small Modular Reactors energy revolution

As one of France’s pilot territories for environmental planning, since June 2023, the Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region has been committed to a decarbonization strategy that follows the national priorities laid out in the national France 2030 green growth program.

In Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, industrial decarbonization is essential for meeting the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

On the occasion of the SOFT business and entrepreneurship conference held in Marseille on December 5, 2024, the Region Sud organized the 15th meeting of its financial investment committee that provides funding for projects linked to the territory’s OIR strategic sector program.  Coordinated by risingSUD, the economic development and attractiveness agency for the region and led by EY, this financing sequence began with a round table that discussed the trajectory of industrial decarbonization and new energy solutions.

Faced with the pressing need to make a successful transition to greener energy sources, the Region Sud is positioning the South of France as a key territory for the development of  Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). This strategy is facilitated by the fact that the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region is already home to robust industrial and research ecosystems in the nuclear sector and has both the energy needs and political will to make sure SMR projects are prioritized.

The region is home to six of the 11 projects recognised and supported by the France 2030 plan’s innovative nuclear reactors program:

• BLUE CAPSULE: low-carbon solutions for industries that need a secure supply of heat, steam, or electricity
• CALOGENA: decarbonising heating for Europe's residential and office buildings
• HEXANA: modular and flexible nuclear solutions for heavy industry
• NEWCLEO: a group of companies with solutions such as lead-cooled fast neutron reactors using recycled fuel
• OTRERA NUCLEAR ENERGY: combined heat and power generation
• STELLARIA: world's first liquid-core reactor that can renew 100% of its fuel

risingSUD and its partners have transcribed the round table discussions and created two reports that explore the opportunities and challenges as the South of France continues its role as a world leader in providing innovative solutions to 21st-century energy issues.

Read our Position Paper "SMRs in the Sud region" (in French)

Read all the discussions from the roundtable on December 5, 2024  (in French)

👉  Learn more about the decarbonization trajectory in the Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region

Focus on the “Energies of Tomorrow” sector in the South of France

risingSUD contact: Sébastien Clouzet, Director of the Territories & Financial Engineering Division