At a European Commission event dedicated to fusion energy on Tuesday 23 April in Strasbourg, the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, and Executive Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič welcomed and recognised once again that, for the European Commission, this emerging technology was one of the most promising for achieving the EU’s decarbonisation goals.
“It is a new, carbon-free energy source, with potential to become a powerful part of the future energy mix”, said Ms Simson in an introductory speech.
She pointed out that at EU level, the ITER project, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, remained the most significant flagship fusion project globally, aimed at demonstrating the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy on a reactor scale.
“Critics will say that ITER is always looking to the future, but it is also important to remember that ITER is useful today, because many of the technologies derived from it have applications in today’s society”, explained Massimo Garribba, Director of Nuclear Energy, Safety and ITER at the European Commission’s DG Energy.
However, Commissioner Simson said that finalising the ITER project was not enough and that international cooperation needed to be stepped up to develop fusion energy. A recent example is the partnership between the EU and Japan under the Broader Approach Agreement, which led to the JT60-SA fusion device in Japan (see EUROPE 13305/12).
Ms Simson also spoke of the role of industry and start-ups, stating that “their first-hand experience can help to improve the technology and bring us closer to the ultimate goal of fusion power plants”.
Vice-President Šefčovic also stressed the importance of collaboration between the public and private sectors, as “public money alone will never be enough; it must be accompanied by the necessary volume of private funding”.
Finally, he reiterated the need to support workforce training activities and to develop a regulatory framework to guarantee a high level of safety at fusion facilities.
In order to make the regulatory environment more predictable for developing investments, he put forward the idea of setting up a working group on regulatory issues between the EU, the United States, several Member States concerned as well as the private sector and financial institutions. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)