European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen, visited the ITER site in France yesterday. After his meeting with F4E staff in Barcelona in April, Jørgensen witnessed the progress in the construction and assembly of the world’s largest fusion experiment.
F4E Director Marc Lachaise welcomed him together with ITER Organization Director-General Pietro Barabaschi. The Chair of F4E’s Governing Board Francesco Sette, the Director at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy Jan Panek, and the Deputy Director of CEA Pierre Vedrine also joined the visit.
The Commissioner received updates on the achievements in the European contribution and the overall progress of the project. The F4E Director also presented the economic impact of F4E’s activities, which have created a strong supply chain and workforce in Europe, and the figures measuring their ripple effect.
The visit continued with a guided tour of the site. The Commissioner walked through the Tokamak Complex, where the massive reactor is coming together and learned about some of the complex technologies Europe has mastered.
“I visited the impressive ITER project, which will be the world’s largest fusion facility. Fusion is a key strategic technology for Europe. It can support our decarbonisation and energy independence goals while boosting industrial leadership,” said Jørgensen. “The European Commission is working on an EU Fusion Strategy. We want the EU to be the first in the world to commercialise fusion energy technologies. By leveraging our excellent science and industrial base, we can make it happen,” he added.
“It was an honour to welcome Commissioner Jørgensen and showcase the tremendous work done by F4E and its industrial partners to deliver Europe’s flagship fusion project,” stated the F4E Director, Marc Lachaise. “We share a clear ambition: making our continent more sovereign and resilient by developing a sustainable energy mix. It is a strategic priority that relies on innovation, collaboration and expertise that can put Europe at the forefront,” he stressed.
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