Sunday newspaper round-up: Battery Technologies, Rolls Royce, Energy bills

(Sharecast News) - Britain needs to invest in key battery technologies in order to avoid becoming dependent on countries like China in the energy transition, the head of the Faraday Institution said. The country required "sovereign capabilities" and its own supply chains, she said. Her remarks followed Tata's announcement that it would construct a £4bn battery gigafactory in Sommerset after securing £500m of subsidies from the government. - Sunday Telegraph Rolls Royce's boss is confident that the engineer will come out on top in the race to develop the country's first fleet of miniature nuclear plants 'on merit'. Turfan Erginbilgic's confidence stems from the advance nature of its designs. The engineer has been designing small modular reactors for years now, having assembled a British consortium for the task. The SMRs, which are based on those used on Royal Naby subs, are forecast to cost approximately £2bn each. - The Sunday Times

The energy secretary told The Times in an interview that the government was unlikely to step in to help households with energy bills this coming winter. He did however also say that once inflation had been cut the government would "absolutely" need to reduce taxation. "We don't want to be in a position ... of having to constantly pay energy bills," Grant Shapps said. "We're having to tax people in order to pay it back to people [...] that money doesn't come from nowhere." - Guardian

Australia's H2X is looking to raise as much as £100m via a flotation on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market. But before going public, the maker of hydrogen-powered vans wants to reach several milestones. Those include manufacturing a prototype of its Darling Van.Chief executive Brendan Norman linked the decision to list in London to the enthusiasm shown already by various potential backers in the UK.- The Sunday Times