Nuclear power station parts to be built in the North East under deal for Siemens Energy factory

The Siemens Energy plant in Byker, Newcastle, will manufacture steam turbines for Rolls-Royce’s flagship small modular reactors (SMRs) being built on Anglesey in North Wales.

It is the first time that such components will be produced for a small modular reactor anywhere in Europe.

Energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh visited Siemens Energy’s Shields Road facility on Thursday morning and said that the deal showed “what our golden age of nuclear looks like in practice”.

The Labour minister told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “This part of the world has a huge history in engineering. We have good, high-skilled workers, and a history of training people up.

“The opportunity, for me, with reindustrialisation is this – it is using clean energy, which we know we need more of, building out a supply chain here in Newcastle. We want to see this and we need to see far more of it.”

Siemens Energy is located at the site of the historic works founded by engineer Charles Parsons in the 1800s and employs around 600 people on Tyneside, with dozens of new apprentices due to be taken on next week.

The works was also where the steam turbine was built for the world’s first commercial nuclear power plant, Calder Hall in West Cumbria, which began generating in 1956.

Ms Fahnbulleh said that the SMR station, which is due to open in the mid-2030s, would help deliver long-term energy bill savings for families.

She added: “My number one job is getting bills down and every time we see the price cap increase it is tough for families and hugely frustrating for me.

“Part of the way we are going to bring bills down for good is, firstly, we need to diversify the energy mix.

“When we talk about clean power it is because one of the things that is driving up bills is our reliance on global fossil fuel markets. The more we have nuclear, the more we have wind, the more we are relying on homegrown energy, the more we can break that link.

“But at the same time, we also have to do things to make sure the market is working for consumers.

“A big part of what we need to do is look across the piece and say ‘how are we doing everything we can to push coats down so it impacts on people’s pockets and the cost of business’.”

Rolls-Royce SMR selected Siemens Energy as its global turbine supplier in 2025 and has also secured contracts for similar nuclear power stations in Sweden and Czechia.

Darren Davidson, UK Vice President for Siemens Energy, said he hoped the agreement would lead to more investment into the company’s Newcastle operation.

He added: “We have 600 jobs here and we have seen significant growth over the last two years. We have seen the creation of more than 100 jobs in the last two years on this site and the collaboration with Rolls-Royce will allow us to grow further and provide further investment.”

Rolls-Royce SMR CEO, Chris Cholerton, called Siemens Energy a “world class” supplier.

He said: “This is a perfect example of reindustrialisation and the golden age of nuclear bringing that to life.”