Manufacturing giants share views at energy summit

Toyota Manufacturing UK and Rolls-Royce have been sharing their thoughts on the future of energy production in the region at a major summit organised by East Midlands Chamber.

Held in partnership with the University of Nottingham’s Energy Institute and East Midlands Freeport, the chamber’s 2024 Midlands Energy Summit recently took place at Toyota’s car manufacturing plant at Burnaston, Derbyshire.

The event, which brought together businesses, policy makers and educators, featured keynote speakers and panel discussions.

Topics covered included energy storage, provision, distribution and technological developments in areas like fission, fusion and hydrogen.

Among the speakers at the summit was Mike Crawforth, business development manager at Rolls-Royce SMR, a business which specialises in mini nuclear power stations (known as Small Modular Reactors).

Unlike conventional nuclear reactors that are built on site, SMRs are smaller, can be made in factories, and could transform how power stations are built by making construction faster and less expensive.

Rolls-Royce SMR claims its nuclear power plant design can provide enough affordable clean electricity to power a million homes for more than 60 years, helping achieve net zero targets.

Recently, the business has been shortlisted in the UK Government’s competition to select and contract providers of mini nuclear power stations.

Also among the speakers was John Malpas, a senior manager for Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK’s Environment and Carbon Neutrality Project, who delivered a talk on initiatives to support the company’s goal to become carbon neutral.

He said: “We have 30 years of experience of energy reduction and decarbonisation. It’s that experience we can share with others, in what pathways we’ve taken, what mistakes or hurdles we came across and then what strategies we’ve adopted, what technologies we’ve adopted, so we can share that information with others and help them along their own pathway.

“As you’re decarbonising, there are opportunities to reduce the cost base through energy cost reduction, utility cost reduction and in all our experiences as we’ve gone down this pathway we’ve reduced our costs, and we’re trying to accelerate that to improve our cash flow in the early years, because in the later years when we transition to new technologies, there’ll be investment to make.”

Richard Blackmore, the chamber’s director of policy and insight, said: “Energy plays a vital role in growing the East Midlands economy and embracing and exploring the storage and production scope we have right on our doorstep is a key part of our Manifesto for Growth – our asks to policy makers that have ensuring the East Midlands thrives at their core.

“Fast-evolving technology has brought a range of attractive clean energy opportunities that make the clean growth journey to Net Zero something businesses can really benefit from.

“The summit was about marrying the insight businesses in the East Midlands energy sector have as they embark into new technologies and seize its potential, with the detailed research and analysis that our superb universities and academics bring, so that as a region we can lead the way on future energy provision and distribution.”