Swiss expertise to power up ITER

Fusion for Energy (F4E) and Ampegon will continue working together to light up ITER. The Swiss company has been tasked with delivering two additional power supply units, on top of the eight currently being tested on-site. The contract extension, responding to ITER’s additional heating needs, rewards the strong expertise built over a decade by the European teams. The technology’s performance so far is proving their success.

The power supplies, part of ITER’s Electron Cyclotron heating system, are at the cutting edge of electrical engineering. They are designed to provide precise voltage and current, regulated in real time. Their electrical power will feed the gyrotrons, which convert it into high-energy microwaves to heat up the plasma.

Europe was initially responsible for eight power supply units. In 2013, F4E entrusted their production to Ampegon, a firm specialising in high-voltage systems. After delivery and installation, the teams energised the supplies for the first time last year and began commissioning them one unit at a time.

The first set passed the tests with flying colours. The results showed it can meet, and even exceed, the demanding performance requirements. In fact, shortly after its hand-over to ITER Organization, the European unit was connected to a Japanese gyrotron for real microwave tests.

Commissioning is now at cruise speed. Only a few months after the first unit, the second one is ready: “We’ve streamlined the process through close, day-to-day collaboration with ITER Organization and Ampegon engineers on-site. The systems are giving us confident results, reaching the nominal power and being responsive to adjustments,” explains Cyril Lescure, F4E Technical Officer.

ITER Organization’s decision to allocate two new units to Europe will allow to take this know-how further. Marcel Frei, Head of R&D at Ampegon, sees it as a “clear sign of trust in the technology, the team and the long-term partnership we have built”. It also offers an opportunity “to incorporate lessons learned, optimize the design, and further align the solution with the customer’s needs,” he says.

The renewed collaboration with the Swiss firm comes at a significant time. Switzerland rejoined F4E this year, following an agreement with the European Union. This means Swiss entities can once again contribute to ITER directly and tap into the opportunities that F4E’s investment offers.

“Switzerland’s tradition of precision, reliability and innovation resonates deeply with ITER and the rest of the projects we are building,” expressed F4E Director Marc Lachaise at a commemorative event hosted by the Swiss Plasma Center in June. “We are ready to capitalise on the world-class expertise of Swiss industry and laboratories to boost Europe’s leadership in fusion, by empowering them to play their part in the biggest supply chain,” he added.

Ampegon’s case illustrates the value of teaming up as Europe for the world’s largest fusion experiment: “ITER has been an important opportunity for our company to further develop and validate gyrotron high voltage systems under real project conditions. This collaboration has strengthened our engineering capabilities and helped us mature our products and processes,” celebrates Marcel Frei.