Avingtrans plc (LON:AVG), which designs, manufactures and supplies critical components, modules, systems and associated services to the energy, medical and industrial sectors, has announced that its Advanced Engineering Systems (AES) division is reporting strong growth prospects across its businesses, driven by a keen focus on emerging opportunities in global nuclear markets.
The division, which has a strong heritage in the nuclear engineering sector, has seen a significant uptick in demand for its mission critical products, driven by a combination of influences including renewed global focus on energy security, decarbonisation, and the need to power the infrastructure behind AI and digital transformation.
Since the turn of the year, Avingtrans’ AES division has secured orders worth more than £10m for nuclear applications – including a £3m contract for a Reactor Water Cleanup Pump for the Iberdrola Cofrentes Nuclear Power Plant in Spain, and a series of long-lead items for prototype pumps for next generation, smaller-scale nuclear technology projects – as well as a growing pipeline of opportunities which support current market expectations.
Austen Adams, COO of Avingtrans, said: “Avingtrans’ businesses enjoy a distinctive position in nuclear markets, supporting customers across the whole nuclear lifecycle; from support for legacy nuclear power infrastructure, to new build sites, novel nuclear technologies, and decommissioning programmes.
“This gives us a unique perspective on the market.
“At the turn of the century, the focus was very much on maintenance and decommissioning legacy infrastructure but, in recent years, we have seen a renewed desire to develop new-build nuclear as a sustainable, decarbonised energy source. This has only accelerated in the wake of recent geopolitical instability, with countries around the world seeking to reduce their reliance on third-countries for their energy supplies.
“It is a shift that is also being accentuated by the AI and digital revolution, with data centres being built at an incredible rate, supported by US government investment and greater deregulation. While delivery of specialist cooling technologies creates opportunities for some of our businesses, data centres are also energy hungry, creating the perfect conditions for wide-scale adoption of new technologies – such as small modular reactors (SMR) – that can be scaled relatively quickly, and secure energy supplies locally, without overwhelming distribution networks.
“Avingtrans’ businesses are already well advanced developing prototypes for one of the world’s leading SMR companies and we expect this to be just the start of a significant increase in market activity across the industry.”
Avingtrans’ businesses operating across the nuclear and digital sectors include: Booth Industries (nuclear new build and fusion technologies); Hayward Tyler (nuclear new build, fusion and life extension); Energy Steel (nuclear new build, life extension and decommissioning); HT Fluid Handling (life extension and decommissioning); Metalcraft (nuclear new build, fusion, decommissioning and data centre cooling); and Ormandy Rycroft (data centre cooling).
