Rolls-Royce is eyeing deals to supply eastern European countries with mini nuclear power stations as they look to free themselves from dependence on Russian energy supplies.

The firm has already announced agreements to supply the Czech Republic and most recently Sweden, as well as the UK itself, with small modular reactors (SMRs).

There could be even more deals, boosting jobs in Britain, where it employs 1,200 people in the SMR business and accounts for 1,000 more in the supply chain.

The mini power stations are designed as modules built in factories before being put together on site. They are intended to be a quicker and cheaper way of boosting electricity supply than larger power stations, which can take decades to develop and build.

Rolls-Royce, led by Tufan Erginbilgic, left, is the majority owner in the Rolls-Royce SMR business, which is also backed by international investors. 

It is vying with rivals including GE Vernova – a venture backed by America’s GE and Japan’s Hitachi – for deals in a growing global market.

Insiders say there could be further expansion in the UK, where it has been selected to build the UK’s first SMRs at Wylfa, north Wales.

Eastern Europe is a key region looking for ‘ways to provide sovereign energy’, The Mail on Sunday has been told. A source said: ‘There is a long line of countries that have expressed an interest. There is huge global potential.’

In the US, a potentially huge market, Rolls-Royce is understood to be at an early stage of discussions with regulators.

It has also said it is working with Skoda’s nuclear arm to deliver the first SMRs for the Czech Republic.

Last week, it said it had signed a deal to supply Sweden’s Vattenfall with three SMRs, beating GE Vernova. It said they would add capacity equal to 6 per cent of Sweden’s consumption of electricity.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle called it ‘a major vote of confidence in British innovation and our nuclear industry’.