A new company has been created to "accelerate" progress on a major project at a Nottinghamshire power station which is expected to create 10,000 jobs. The UK's first ever nuclear fusion energy plant will be based at the West Burton A power station near Retford.
The Government is planning to end the use of coal power in the UK by October 2024 and, as part of this, the country's three remaining coal-fired powered stations are being decommissioned. Two of the remaining plants are in Nottinghamshire, with plans having already been revealed for the future of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar site.
The West Burton plant was announced last year as the location where the UK's first Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) plant will be based, beating other locations including Moorside in Cumbria and Goole in Yorkshire. Some Nottinghamshire MPs have claimed the project could replace the county's lost mining jobs, with the site expected to become operational in 2040.
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Ahead of construction work getting underway in the early 2030s, the Government has now announced the creation of a company to deliver the project. UK Industrial Fusion Solutions Ltd (UKIFS) will be a company limited by shares, with recruitment due to launch soon for the chair of the organisation.
The Chief Executive of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, Professor Sir Ian Chapman, explained the role of the new company by saying: "The establishment of Industrial Fusion Solutions will enable STEP to accelerate its journey towards delivery of electricity from fusion energy to the grid.
"The new body, which will be formed over the next 18 months, will be established as a programme delivery organisation, driving performance and pace and engaging industry in this endeavour. We look forward to working with people in the region to develop our ambitious plans and realising broader social and economic benefits."
Science minister George Freeman MP visited the West Burton site on Monday (February 6), where it was also announced that a new skills centre will be based on the site when the STEP plant has been constructed. Professor Sir Ian Chapman added: "Alongside the establishment of the new organisation, we are beginning to map out our future skills requirements and, as part of this, we are committing to the development of a STEP Skills Centre at West Burton. This will enable us to provide as many opportunities as possible to people across the area."
The planned plant will use magnetic confinement fusion, where two forms of hydrogen are heated to extreme temperatures and fused together to create helium and release energy. The Government says the energy created is "many million times" more efficient than burning coal, oil or gas and that materials needed are readily available in nature.
But the Government also says that "significant technical hurdles remain" and the STEP programme seeks to address these. The West Burton project will serve as a prototype for the technology, with hopes that it could eventually be used across the UK grid.
The Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, Ben Bradley MP, said: "This will be a prototype power plant for this amazing technology. If we get it right, this place will literally lead the world in that technology.
"Whatever happens with it, it will be a source of huge inward investment into our part of the world. In skills, in jobs, in new infrastructure for North Nottinghamshire where we obviously very much need it."
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