2015 ITER Business Forum: the meeting point to network and form partnerships

The fourth edition of the ITER Business Forum (IBF) was celebrated in Marseille on 26-28 March at the Palais du Pharo. Beneath the magnificent 150 year old imperial palace overlooking the city’s old port, another empire was coming together, one made of high-tech industry and companies specialised in R&D, to build the most avant-garde project in the field of energy- ITER.

The IBF conference hall was buzzing with activity from the 800 participants travelling from 26 countries eager to find out more about the project that is now entering its most decisive phase with the appointment of Dr. Bernard Bigot as Director General for ITER International Organization. IBF has gained recognition in the business community and has turned into a must for those who are keen to invest in fusion technology. Thanks to the careful planning of Sabine Portier, France’s Industry Liaison Officer (ILO) and Philippe Olivier, France’s Deputy ILO, a rich thematic programme was put together offering state of play presentations from key technology areas, business to business meetings to facilitate interaction between companies, and plenary sessions to address issues of strategic importance about the coordination of the work of all ITER parties.

Members of the ILOs network had the opportunity to act as conveners and led 14 parallel sessions addressing specific areas of procurement. The participation of specialiasts from the different ITER Domestic Agencies (DAs) together with companies being involved in ITER contracts gave a more dynamic flavour to the event and teased out, more than previous IBF editions, its business angle. The thematic sessions served mainly two objectives: first, to inform attendees on the current state of progress and manufacturing of components, second, to raise awareness about the future procurement opportunities and subcontracting.

Europe’s commitment to deliver the lion’s share to ITER generated once again a lot of enthusiasm and required from F4E a wide involvement in the event. Jean-Marc Filhol, F4E’s Head of ITER Department, offered a warm welcome to all participants and put some key facts and figures in perspective. He started by stating that “to date more than 3 billion EUR has already been committed by F4E, resulting in more than 300 procurements and contracts with high-tech European companies in key industrial areas (civil works, mechanical, electrical, materials and nuclear engineering). In addition, around 100 million EUR has been committed in R&D in European research laboratories”. In terms of jobs and growth, he explained that “F4E, through its contracts with industry, is already creating over 15,000 person-years of employment and will create many more during the rest of the project’s construction. ITER work is more labour-intensive than conventional industrial manufacturing due to the high content of R&D and engineering tasks. On average, around 50 % of F4E’s funding to industry goes directly to salaries, compared to around 15 %, which is the case for the conventional manufacturing industry”.

Since 2008, Europe has signed in total 314 operational procurement contracts and 117 grants with fusion laboratories for a total exceeding 3.3 billion EUR. In other words, nearly 70 % of its 4, 5 billion EUR technology contribution has already been successfully awarded. To demonstrate F4E’s business ethos, the IBF event served as the perfect platform to announce the signature of a multimillion contract with DAHER. The company that was founded in Marseille, and progressively grown, has been given the exclusive responsibility to deliver all European equipment to ITER.

All F4E presentations are available on the Industry and Fusion Laboratories Portal

To read more about IBF 2015 click here