Industry giants including Toshiba, Thales and Renishaw have announced their support in bringing the UK’s first prototype fusion plant to Gloucestershire.
The Severn Edge site that is being proposed by the Western Gateway - a cross-border partnership stretching from Swansea to Swindon - is one of five under consideration by the Government.
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) is currently looking for a site for its flagship Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme which is looking to prove the commercial viability of fusion energy. According to the UKAEA, fusion has the potential to become the “ultimate low carbon energy” source, recreating the reaction that takes place within the sun.
The Western Gateway partnership is leading a bid to bring fusion to Severn Edge, which spans two sites in South Gloucestershire and Gloucestershire next to the M4 Severn Bridge to Wales.
Known to be the only bid in the running which can bridge two countries within the UK, 28 businesses and organisations have already written to UKAEA to demonstrate their support. Mahesh Sooriyabandara, managing director for Toshiba Research Europe; Will Lee, chief executive for Renishaw; and Tony Burton director of cyber security and trust at Thales all voiced “strong support” for bringing STEP to the area.
Mr Burton said: “We passionately believe that bringing STEP to the Severn region will ensure it has the industrial and scientific capabilities, as well as the existing and future skills capacity it needs to be successful.”
Phil Smith, managing director for Business West, a coalition representing 24,000 South West businesses, said in a letter to UKAEA: “By connecting STEP to our world class science and innovation eco-system in digital, cyber, construction and high value manufacturing, we passionately believe that the South West and Wales have the capabilities, capacity and talented workforce to make the vision for STEP a reality.”
The Gloucestershire bid has received support from four universities, as well as businesses, political leaders and the community. A total of 15 sites across the country were long-listed following an open call for sites between December 2020 and March 2021, before being whittled down to five .
Katherine Bennett, chair of the Western Gateway partnership, said the Western Gateway area offered the national STEP Programme the "best possible access" to technical skills and expert supply chains.
She said: "Our site in Severn Edge is unique in benefitting two countries across the union offering opportunities to level up communities in Wales and England that are at severe risk of being left behind. STEP would mean billions of pounds worth of investment and is part of the work our partnership is doing to develop our area as a green energy super cluster driving the UK’s transition to Net Zero.”
The intended timetable for a fusion decision is:
- Site assessment - spring 2022
- Final report stage - summer 2022
- Final review by United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) - autumn 2022
- Site selected by Secretary of State for Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy - winter 2022
Like this story? Why not sign up to get the latest South West business news straight to your inbox.
