EU Fusion Business Forum unveils new market opportunities

More than 150 organisations from industry, start-ups and research institutes joined Fusion for Energy (F4E) and ITER Organization at an event organised by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy in Berlin. The potential of fusion energy and the latest market opportunities stemming from various projects, including ITER, were amongst the topics discussed at the EU Fusion Business Forum.

The increasing interest in fusion technologies, together with a growing volume of public and private investment offered fruitful exchanges between participants. Presentations of the tenders in the pipeline together with business to business (B2B) meetings, provided a strong commercial angle to this event.

One of the sessions addressed the role of F4E in the evolving fusion landscape and the means to support European companies in the field. F4E Director Marc Lachaise explained that “since 2008, F4E has signed contracts with more than 700 companies, who are working with at least 2000 subcontractors. Our investment generates great benefits for Europe’s economy and boosts the expertise of industry by creating an extensive supply chain.”

Lachaise also presented F4E’s vision identifying as main pillars the construction and operation of ITER together with other projects, talent acquisition and knowledge management, and Europe’s role in the fusion roadmap. In this context, F4E will launch later in the year a new Technology Development Programme to make progress in key technologies.

Various F4E colleagues contributed to sessions presenting ongoing and future procurements related to ITER systems, like diagnostics or cryogenics. Several European contractors working for the project were also invited to share their experience.

The forum was opened by Jan Panek, Director for Nuclear Energy, Safety and ITER of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy, and the German Federal Minister of Education and Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger. They both highlighted the merits of fusion and welcomed the collaborative spirit between public-private partnerships in joining forces to bring this source of energy a step closer.