F4E announces the winners of the Supply Chain Excellence Awards

Fusion for Energy (F4E) unveiled the winners of the first-ever F4E Supply Chain Excellence Awards last week at the Big Science Business Forum 2026 in Maastricht. The initiative aims to recognise European companies that have made outstanding contributions to fusion through their collaboration with F4E.

Europe’s fusion supply chain is vast, with over 3,000 companies across 23 Member States, and full of success stories. From high-skilled engineering services to record-breaking ITER components, their expertise has proven its value and grown alongside F4E’s projects.

The awards featured five different categories. The call received a broad variety of applications, assessed against published criteria by a panel with an independent external majority. The winners are presented below.

Excellence in Delivery: GTD

GTD, Spanish engineering group, provided the instrumentation and control system for the distribution of cryogenic fluids to ITER’s cryopumps. The electronic system is designed to operate the network in real time and monitor thousands of variables. The firm delivered it with a fully closed-out quality record and ahead of the contractual schedule.

Innovation Pioneer: Freemelt

Freemelt developed an innovative approach to fabricate plasma-facing components. Under an R&D contract with F4E, the Swedish company validated a new additive manufacturing route tailored to tungsten, exceeding the initial requirements. This know-how allowed them to win a new F4E contract for 33,000 monoblocks and tiles for JT-60SA.

Sustainability Champion: Centrum Výzkumu Řež

The Czech laboratory CVŘ is home to a unique testbed in Europe, known as HELCZA. This facility is used for high heat flux testing, a critical checkpoint for plasma-facing components. After a long campaign of tests with the first wall panels, CVŘ repurposed the facility by decontaminating and adapting it for tungsten-based divertor targets.

SME Rising Star: Revol TT Consulting

RTC, based in Slovakia, shows how small and medium-sized companies can master even the most complex challenges in fusion. The firm has developed techniques to manufacture tungsten components in-house. This capability will allow them to provide over 1,000 plasma-facing units for the JT-60SA divertor, having already qualified/built full-scale mock-ups.

Collaborative Partnership: AVS and Tecnalia

The company AVS and the R&D centre Tecnalia, both from Spain, partnered to manufacture the beam line of MITICA, a plasma-heating prototype never tested at this scale. The calorimeter, the last of three components, was delivered this year. The consortium has stayed engaged to develop an upgraded design through close collaboration with F4E,  ITER Organization, and Consorzio RFX.

Special recognition: VERSE Europa

The panel conferred its special recognition on VERSE Europa. The Spanish firm is providing specialised engineering services to the JT-60SA experiment. Their presence on-site in Naka has contributed to numerous achievements, from the installation of diagnostics to the development of automation and control solutions.

The trophies were handed out on the main stage of BSBF 2026 by F4E Director, Marc Lachaise. “These awards are a celebration of nearly two decades of collaboration with our industrial partners to deliver on ITER and the Broader Approach. There are many fine examples of European innovation and excellence in our supply chain. I congratulate every winner and every applicant. We want these examples to inspire established and new suppliers to keep raising the bar together. More than ever, a strong, deep and resilient industry is fundamental for Europe to lead the way to fusion, a clean and safe energy source,” he asserted in his speech.

The awards are non-monetary and confer no advantage in any F4E procurement or contract.