Mr Erginbilgic was speaking in Prague as Rolls-Royce signed a deal in the Czech Republic to deploy around six small modular reactors (SMRs) in a European first. A delayed, parallel SMR competition in the UK is still rumbling on.
Mr Erginbilgic backed efforts by ministers to slash planning red tape and tackle regulatory delays, which have been blamed for restricting Britain’s ability to build things.
“It needs to be speeding up, absolutely,” he said. “Because, frankly, you can run these processes rigorously and robustly, but also at an accelerated pace.
“That’s what businesses do, right? We don’t cut corners. We do things in a very robust manner, but a lot faster [than the Government]. So that’s what needs to happen.”
On Tuesday, the chief executive appeared with Czech prime minister Petr Fiala to sign a major deal between Rolls-Royce’s SMR business and CEZ, the state-owned energy company.
Under the agreement, CEZ has ordered up to three gigawatts of SMR reactors from Rolls-Royce – equivalent to roughly six mini reactors – and will become a “strategic partner” of the business.
This will see the Czech state company take a stake of roughly 20pc in Rolls-Royce SMR for “hundreds of millions of pounds”, joining a list of investors that also includes a Qatari sovereign wealth fund, American utility giant Constellation Energy and the billionaire Perrodo family, a French clan who made their money in oil.
Early work to build the first SMR is to begin next year in Temelin, southern Czechia, where there is already a large nuclear power station.
The CEZ stake is thought to have come out of Rolls-Royce’s previous holding in the SMR venture, which stood at 76pc in 2023 according to filings on Companies House. That would still leave Rolls-Royce with more than 50pc of the business overall.
Speaking at a press conference, Mr Fiala said: “We do not want to only purchase [SMR] technology, but also to partner in development and production.”
Czech taxpayers now stand to benefit from any future profits in the business, while the British Government is yet to fully back the technology.