- The Government has established UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd (UKIFS) to deliver a prototype fusion energy plant at West Burton in Nottinghamshire
- The STEP prototype plant is due to complete construction by 2040, and aims to provide electricity to the grid from fusion energy
- Fusion energy could be a near limitless, low-carbon energy source, easing our path to sustaining net-zero and driving economic growth across the UK
A future of abundant low-carbon energy without the need for fossil fuels could be in sight after Science Minister George Freeman today (Monday 6 February) announced the creation of a new delivery body for the UK’s fusion programme, named UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd.
Fusion energy has the potential to transform our world, by delivering near limitless, safe, and low-carbon energy across the globe for generations to come.
It also represents a burgeoning industry in which the UK is already a world-leader, as demonstrated by the record-setting results from experiments conducted at the UK’s Joint European Torus (JET) facility last year, with the potential to not only power the world but deliver vast economic growth across the country.
On the visit to the future site of the UK’s first prototype fusion energy plant at West Burton, Nottinghamshire, the Science Minister urged energy companies and investors to recognise the vast potential fusion energy could have for both the UK and the wider world.
The Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) plant will be constructed by 2040 to demonstrate the ability to use fusion energy to generate electricity for the UK grid.
Magnetic confinement fusion, the approach to generate fusion that will be demonstrated in STEP, occurs when a mix of two forms of hydrogen are heated to extreme temperatures – 10 times hotter than the core of the sun – fuse together to create helium and release huge amounts of energy.
Learn more about STEP at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy website.
