UK Selects EPC Firms to Design, Build $230M Nuclear Fusion Prototype Plant
A global consortium of construction firms now has the go-ahead and a nearly $230 million financial commitment to build a prototype nuclear fusion power plant in north Nottinghamshire, England.
UK Fusion Energy has chosen the ILIOS group of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms to lead design and build-out for the STEP Fusion Programme site. The consortium is led by VINCI subsidiary Nuvia, which is joined by EPC firms Kier, AECOM, AL_A and Turner & Townsend.
STEP stands for Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production, a UK-funded effort to develop a prototype for generating electricity from nuclear fusion. Tokamak is a leading type of fusion test reactor which utilizes external magnets to confine the fused plasma containing the chemical elements and massive heat which theoretically can be converted into electrical energy.
No company has yet developed a sustained commercial fusion reaction anywhere in the world, but numerous public and private projects are working toward that goal. Several VINCI companies are involved in the global ITER fusion test site in southern France.
The construction award is close to 200 million Euros. This contract covers more than four years and is the first phase of the UK Fusion STEP program. STEP is planned for construction atop the retired West Burton A coal-fired power plant, which is now being demolished.
UK Science Minister Patrick Vallance recently announced his nation’s 2.5 billion-Euro investment plan for developing fusion energy in the coming decades. He and other leaders in Europe have pointed to volatile global oil and gas markets considering events such as the U.S. war with Iran and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The current crisis shows that energy prices are volatile and they’re internationally determined,” Vallance said in a statement carried by GB News and other outlets.
"The more we can be self-sufficient and in control of where our energy comes from, the more protective we can be, not only of household bills, which is crucial but also energy bills for companies and our industrial sector,” the UK minister added.
The United States also is exploring nuclear fusion’s potential through work by public institutions such as the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and public startups such as Helion and Commonwealth Fusion Systems.
The U.S. Department of Energy has published a Fusion Science and Technology Roadmap laying out a long-term strategy to develop nuclear fusion by sometime in the 2030s. DOE last year announced $134 million in funding for two fusion development programs. Most of the money was allocated to the Fusion Innovative Research Engine (FIRE) collaboration which includes national laboratories such as Savannah River, Idaho and Sandia national labs as well as Tokamak Energy, Stellerax, Commonwealth Fusion Systems and other private startups.
In other commercial fusion work, Tennessee Valley Authority is working with Oak Ridge National Lab and Lawrence Livermore National Lab has achieved some experimental breakthroughs over past years.
All of the world’s current nuclear power generating fleets are using nuclear fission, which creates energy by splitting atoms. Those include the U.S. fleet of more than 90 reactor units, which account for close to 18% of total utility-scale electricity generation and about half of carbon-free power.
Nuclear fusion, which has yet to be harnessed on a commercial level, aims to create energy by fusing multiple nuclei, which is the same energy process of the sun.
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About the Author
Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor
Managing Editor
For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].
Rod Walton has spent 17 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.
Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World.
EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023
Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.