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EUROfusion starts design of demonstration fusion power plant in new research programme

Time
Jul 5th 2022 10:00
Location
Online

Following its record-breaking results earlier this year, Europe's research consortium for fusion energy EUROfusion will announce the start of conceptual design activities for Europe's first demonstration fusion power plant DEMO at the Horizon EUROfusion event on 5 July 2022. This first-of-a-kind fusion device is due to come into operation around the middle of this century and demonstrate the net production of 300 to 500 megawatts of clean and safe fusion energy to the grid.

EUROfusion starts design of demonstration fusion power plant in new research programme

At the Horizon EUROfusion event on 5 July 2022 we will be:

  • announcing the start of the conceptual design for the European demonstration fusion power plant DEMO
  • celebrating our accomplishments including the world fusion energy record announced by EUROfusion researchers earlier this year
  • presenting our research plans that will give the global fusion experiment ITER a flying start

Horizon EUROfusion is the first in a planned annual series where the EUROfusion consortium shares progress made and the steps ahead to realise fusion energy. Members of the media are invited to join representatives from fusion research, government and industry at the event either in person or via livestream.

Developing fusion energy

Fusion is the process that powers stars like our sun and promises an inherently safe and near-limitless clean energy source for the long term here on earth. Fusion energy would generate immense amounts of energy from mere grams of abundant fuels found worldwide.

The EUROfusion research consortium brings together experts from across Europe in the world's leading and most comprehensive fusion R&D programme. EUROfusion is co-funded by the European Union via the Euratom Research and Training Programme. From JET to ITER to DEMO, the European fusion roadmap lays out the consortium's path towards industrial-scale fusion power plant technology by the middle of the century.

EUROfusion activities directly support the global fusion experiment ITER, build up the European domestic fusion industry, and develop the first-of-a-kind demonstration fusion power plant DEMO. Earlier this year, EUROfusion researchers showed the potential of fusion by setting a world record of 59 megajoules of sustained fusion energy at the Joint European Torus (JET) device in Culham, UK.

Horizon EUROfusion event

The Horizon EUROfusion event takes place from 10h - 12h30 CEST on 5 July 2022 at the Representation of the German State of Mecklenburg Vorpommern at the European Union, in Brussels, Belgium. Media will have the opportunity to interview EUROfusion spokespeople after the event.

To attend in person contact EUROfusion media officer Gieljan de Vries. Space is limited.

To follow the event via livestream go here.

Speakers:

  • Ms Joanna Drake (European Commission)
    Deputy Director-General, DG Research and Innovation
    The European Fusion programme’s support to the EU climate goals
  • Prof Dr Sibylle Günter (Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Germany)
    Co-chair of EUROfusion General Assembly

A look back at EUROfusion during Horizon 2020

  • Prof Dr Ambrogio Fasoli (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland)
    Chair of EUROfusion General Assembly

A look forward to Horizon EUROfusion

  • Dr Tuomas Tala (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland)
    Head of the Fusion Research Unit
    The impact of EUROfusion in Finland and its role in FinnFusion
  • Ms María Teresa Domínguez Bautista (Empresarios Agrupados energy engineering, Spain)
    Advanced Projects Director
    The role of industry in fusion
  • Dr Wouter Vijvers (Chromodynamics multispectral cameras, the Netherlands)
    Founder and CEO
    From public research in fusion to a start up
  • Ms Rosalinde van der Vlies (European Commission)

Director of Clean Planet Directorate, DG Research & Innovation

Closing and the Way Forward

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