Calogena, EU Innovation Fund grant for a first commercial SMR
Calogena, a subsidiary of Groupe Gorgé founded in 2021, is developing a small modular reactor (SMR) to supply district heating networks. In a press release dated 2 November 2026, the company said the Innovation Fund of the European Commission has awarded it a €40 million grant. Calogena says it is the first time European funding for an SMR is tied directly to building a commercial facility.
The grant is meant for the potential construction of Calogena's first commercial reactor in Pierrelatte, in southern France. Both the company and World Nuclear News use conditional wording ("potential"). The European Commission's own announcement was not among the sources read for this post, so the grant terms are not confirmed from its side.
The reactor, called CAL30, is a 30 megawatt thermal, water-cooled pool-type design running at low temperature and low pressure. World Nuclear News reports that the CAL30 will be able to supply heat to about 20,000 homes and that it is one of four SMR designs being evaluated by the French nuclear safety authority.
Public money is already in the story. The company says it received more than €50 million under France 2030, and World Nuclear News reports that it was selected in 2023 in the French government's Innovative Nuclear Reactors call.
The sources differ on timing. Calogena's press release says its first deployment is planned for 2032. World Nuclear News says the company aims for deployment as early as 2030.
What the money pays for: building the first commercial reactor in Pierrelatte, which the company says would give the town locally produced, low-carbon heat. Executive chairman Julien Dereux says the company now enters the construction phase of its first commercial reactor. None of the sources read gives the total cost of the Pierrelatte project or the share the grant covers.