It has been described as the “Holy Grail” of energy production and the government has just announced a £2.5 billion commitment that could pave the way for big changes to how we power the world.
Supporters say it makes the Sun shine, but what is fusion energy, can we utilize it and does it work?
The record additional funding into sustainable energy was announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves to support the development of the world’s first fusion power plant in Nottinghamshire.
The new prototype, known as STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production), will be built at the site of the former West Burton A coal power station near Retford and Gainsborough with the creation of an estimated 10,000 jobs.
It will mark a dramatic transformation for the East Midlands region, which was not too long ago commonly known as “Megawatt Valley” due to its coal mining heritage.
The government says the area’s energy rebirth following the closure of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal station last year underscores the country’s dedication to transitioning away from carbon-intensive energy while supporting communities that have been historically reliant on fossil fuel infrastructure.
Old energy, new energy. Jobs lost, jobs gained.
Around £220 million has already been allotted to the project and the government claims the new influx of cash shows its “firm commitment to becoming a clean energy superpower by turbocharging innovation in an area that’s produced conventional power for generations”.
STEP works by combining hydrogen gases, deuterium and tritium, which are heated to over 150 million degrees Celsius and confined within a powerful magnetic field. The energy produced can then be used to create steam and turn a turbine, generating electricity like a conventional power plant.
However, as is always the case, not everyone is in support.
Technology news website The Register said:
“In other words, the UK's latest investment in the fusion dream is still betting on just that - a dream. We may be making advances toward fusion energy, but £2.5 billion is a big ask for a country buried in debt and a Chancellor of the Exchequer struggling to justify spending.”
The only known fusion ignition - the point at which the fusion reaction becomes self-sustaining – was achieved at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California.
The NIF technically exceeded the amount of energy that went into the reaction chamber but powering the 192 lasers required more megajoules than it created, meaning the reaction did not make up for the energy used to get it going.
Chinese researchers also claimed a fusion breakthrough in January with nearly 18 minutes of plasma confinement in a tokamak (a fusion reactor that uses strong magnetic fields to confine and heat a plasma), but did not specify whether there was a net energy gain, said The Register.
UK Industrial Fusion Solutions CEO Paul Methven was much more enthusiastic and said:
“The UK is the world leader in fusion energy research today, and STEP is the beacon programme that aims to take fusion from research to commercial success, generating high quality jobs, multiple spin offs and boosting the economy nationally and in the East Midlands where we will build the first plant. Securing a global lead in such a vital new technology requires bold action; the government has rightly been bold and we look forward to delivering the practical steps that will realise the vision of the UK leading in this exciting new sector.”
During a recent visit to the UK’s Fusion Research Campus at Culham, Oxfordshire, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said:
“After scientists first theorised over 70 years ago that it could be possible, we are now within grasping distance of unlocking the power of the sun and providing families with secure, clean, unlimited energy.”
The UK is not alone in backing this horse with Google investing in fusion energy firm TAE.
Also, a team of scientists in the US have won a $2.3 million grant to lead the development of next generation materials that could make commercial fusion power a reality.
In Germany, Marvel Fusion, which is developing a design of a fully integrated fusion power plant, is using an ultrashort laser pulse that interacts with small fuel pellets in a target structure with high intensity.
The increasingly competitive race to create abundant zero emission power by combining atoms has been joined by a start-up in the same country which has secured €130m in funding to develop its fusion energy technology.
Francesco Sciorti, chief executive of Munich-based Proxima Fusion, which has won the investment, told the Financial Times the money would fund the construction of a magnet named the Stellarator Model Coil by 2027, and added: “That’s the magnet that changes history.”
The company says it will then construct a €1bn demonstration plant that it hopes will be part-funded by the European government and will be followed by the first commercial fusion power plant later that decade.
As always time will tell, but it is vital that we continue to research all options.
For more information visit: step.ukaea.uk
