STEP Fusion’s potential to power up three regions came into the spotlight at this year’s Great Northern Conference, a celebration of regional economic potential.
The event at Doncaster Racecourse attracted an audience of 250 business people and political leaders, who heard how STEP Fusion’s decision to build a prototype power plant at West Burton could spur growth in South Yorkshire, the East Midlands and Lincolnshire.
STEP Fusion is being supported by a £2.5 billion Government investment in fusion energy, which harnesses the same process that powers the sun and the stars to create a new kind of almost limitless clean energy.
Speaking during a panel discussion about innovation, STEP Fusion’s Head of Communications and Engagement, Ben Bradley, said:
“STEP will commercialise fusion energy, developing the blueprint for commercial fusion power plants, and building an industry in the region that will lead the world in this critical, new technology.
“This is a region that has a unique heritage of industrial innovation in energy, and when we combined that with devolved investment in skills and infrastructure it opens up the opportunity to develop a globally significant cluster that benefits local communities, three regions and the UK as a whole.”
He added:
“STEP is going to become a multi-trillion industry. We’re already active at our Rotherham Fusion Technology Facility, which is developing and testing key components and the programme to develop the West Burton site will start in earnest early next year when we appoint our construction partner and begin to build our supply chain.”
The STEP Fusion development is on a similar scale to the Sizewell C and Hinkley Point C energy generation programmes and will be one of the UK’s biggest major projects.
Its size means that the jobs and business opportunities it offers will bring benefits to the three regions of South Yorkshire, Greater Lincolnshire and the East Midlands. It will generate 3,000 jobs during construction and 6,500 full-time jobs once fully operational.
STEP Fusion’s West Burton site is one of three disused coal-fired power stations that are being brough back to life as part of an energy Supercluster. The others are Cottam and High Marnham, and together they bring the chance to reignite the energy industry in an area that once powered the nation.
The Great Northern Conference was organised by the Yorkshire Post. Editor James Mitchinson, who has long campaigned for regional investment under the ‘Power Up the North’ banner, said:
“I guess a great many people don’t really know or care where the power that illuminates their home comes from, or how it is generated, but you cannot fail to get excited about fusion. It’s the stuff of Harry Potter movies: scientific and technological wizardry that has the potential to change everything, everywhere.
“The skilled, permanent, well-paid jobs and future careers it brings, too, means I’m looking forward to seeing how those leading this space make progress.”
