How the UK’s fusion energy sector is shaping a clean, secure and thriving future
Minister for Climate, Kerry McCarthy MP, recently visited a fusion innovation centre, Culham Campus (Credit: United Kingdom Atomic Energy)
4 min read
As fusion energy approaches a breakthrough in transforming global power, the UK stands at the forefront. James Naish MP, chair of the Fusion Energy APPG, believes the UK is well-positioned to achieve a low-carbon future and strengthen its position as a global leader in clean energy innovation
Fusion energy promises to be a safe, inexhaustible and sustainable part of the world’s future energy supply. The low-carbon energy created from fusion will be used to generate heat and electricity in the same way as existing power stations and has the potential to be transformational in both delivering on the UK’s long-term clean energy ambitions and in tackling climate change.
The UK has long been a leader in global fusion innovation, hosting the world-renowned Joint European Torus (JET) for 40 years, the largest and most successful fusion experiment in the world. It is also home to emergent private sector fusion companies and boasts talent with deep expertise in the full ecosystem of skills required for fusion. With the addition of the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme − a prototype fusion powerplant under development in West Burton, Nottinghamshire − the UK is now at the forefront of the global race to fusion. However, countries including the US and China are rapidly developing their own sectors, investing significant sums in fusion. This means steps must be taken now by the UK government to maintain the UK’s competitive edge.
Rather than being a distant vision, fusion is already bringing significant benefits to the UK economy. The sector supports thousands of high-skilled jobs, and thousands more will be added through the construction and operations at STEP alone.
Research conducted in 2020 by the UK government shows that the British economy gained £1.4bn from the direct public investment in fusion energy over the previous decade. For every £1 invested in fusion, approximately £4 is generated for the public purse in return.
New spin-off technologies are also being developed which can be applied to a wide range of industries. The potential for this technology transfer is significant, ranging from medical applications and robotics to supercomputing. Leading fusion companies right here in the UK − including Tokamak Energy, TAE Technologies and Astral Systems, among many others − are reconfiguring technological advancements in fusion for use elsewhere, bringing near-term benefits to the economy.
It’s crucial that we acknowledge the valuable role that this technology can play in the UK’s future energy mix given the UK population continues to grow, and demand on its energy system will expand exponentially as we move away from gas, petrol and diesel.
A home-grown, abundant energy source will simultaneously attract new opportunities such as electricity-hungry data centres for AI, green hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuels. This is exciting and offers genuine opportunities to grow our economy over time. But this isn’t some far-off pipe dream. The contribution of the emerging fusion sector to the UK economy is happening now, and the UK’s global leadership role in this industry puts it at the heart of one of the most important races to enable global decarbonisation.
“Rather than being a distant vision, fusion is already bringing significant benefits to the UK economy”
A collection of scientific and engineering challenges stands between us and the realisation of a fusion powerplant in the UK. However, with a robust partnership between government and industry to overcome these challenges and a long-term view to policymaking, we can pave the way to commercialisation of the technology. Given fusion’s potential to bolster our long-term energy security, to create thousands of high-skilled jobs and to produce hundreds of spin-off businesses and technologies, it must be at the heart of both this government’s clean energy and its economic growth missions.
The Fusion Energy APPG has been set up as a forum to explore how parliamentarians can work with industry to help accelerate fusion’s commercialisation and maximise benefits to the UK economy. If you would like to become a member of the group or want to know more about the technology by attending our upcoming events in Parliament, please get in touch with the secretariat (Valerie Jamieson, development manager at The Fusion Cluster) at Valerie.Jamieson@ukaea.uk.
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