Ratcliffe-on-Soar has been dropped the shortlist of potential sites for the first commercial fusion energy plant in the world.
Instead another Nottingham site at West Burton, near Retford, has been put back on the five-strong shortlist.
The government said it had dropped Ratcliffe-on-Soar because of a land availability issue.
The final decision on which of the five sites will be chosen will be towards the end of 2022.
Some £220 million of government cash is going into finding an appropriate site for the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production – or STEP – project, to help meet the UK’s carbon-zero targets, with the hope that the prototype fusion plant could be switched on in 2040.
Ratcliffe on Soar power station, a few miles east of East Midlands Airport, is owned by Uniper and is scheduled to close in 2025.
EDF Energy has said the coal-fired element of West Burton power station will be closing before 2025.
The STEP programme is the first stage in the UK’s bid to be the first country to commercialise fusion energy, to meet future needs.
The change means the five-strong shortlist is now made up of Ardeer in North Ayrshire; Goole in the East Riding of Yorkshire; Moorside in Cumbria; West Burton in Nottinghamshire; and Severn Edge in Gloucestershire.
Tris Denton, STEP’s head of commercial and programme development, said the team had been assessing Ratcliffe-on-Soar since the autumn, along with the four other sites, and it had been “a very good site with several potential development options and plans”.
He said: “However, with new information now before us on land availability we think other sites on our shortlist will likely be more suitable for the specific needs of the STEP programme.
“As such we will not be continuing assessment at this location, but we’d like to thank Uniper and the other parties involved in the nomination for the excellent collaboration and support to date.
“The site of the West Burton A coal fired power station, also in Nottinghamshire, was also proposed as a candidate for STEP and has been held in reserve based on a number of strong features.
“The potential for this site to compare favourably with the remaining sites on our shortlist means that we will now restart assessment at this site to further consider its merits.
“This will maintain the strength and diversity of the options we have. We look forward to continuing to work with the nominating partnership, including Nottinghamshire County Council and the site owner, EDF.”
