Burges Salmon supports UK Fusion Energy on significant milestones for STEP Fusion

Following publication of the UK’s fusion energy strategy, at a very well attended 2^nd annual Fusion Fest in London, UK Fusion Energy Ltd (UKFE) announced the launch of its own strategy, setting out how the UK will deliver its prototype fusion power plant, STEP Fusion and secure a leading position in the emerging global fusion market estimated to be worth up to £12 trillion by 2100.

UKFE also confirmed two major programme milestones – the award of:

• a £70 million contract to Tokamak Energy as its first engineering systems partner for next‑generation magnet technologies; and
• a £30 million agreement with Dassault Systèmes to expand STEP’s Product Lifecycle Management capability through the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.

These milestones follow other recent developments for the STEP programme, including the announcement of Ilios as the construction partner for the project.

Our market-leading, multi-disciplinary fusion team, as UKFE’s legal advisors, is proud to have supported the STEP team on these contracts and the construction partner procurement, which show the programme moving decisively from concept into delivery. Burges Salmon’s team is led and co-ordinated by Peter Ramsden and includes specialists from across the firm providing assistance on legal workstreams relating to their areas of expertise such as: Ian Truman (regulation and environment), James Phillips (grid), Paul Browne (real estate), Alex Minhinick (planning), Helen Scott-Lawler and Richard Hugo (commercial and IP), John Houlden and Punim Anda (procurement), Steve James and Rob Russell-Smith (construction), Nick Graves and Gregory Nash (corporate), Richard Binns (disputes), and Adrian Martin (employment).

This is an exciting time for the fusion sector which continues to develop at pace. The UK Government has set out plans to further develop the UK’s pro-innovation regulatory framework for fusion, including the publication of a regulatory roadmap for developers, proposals to streamline planning through a draft National Policy Statement for Fusion (EN‑8), expected in summer, and the development of what is intended to be the world’s first market framework for fusion energy. Work is also underway to engage the energy insurance market to support proportionate insurance arrangements for fusion outside the nuclear pools and standard nuclear exclusion clauses.

If you’d like to discuss anything to do with fusion and how we might be able to help, reach out to Peter or any of the wider team mentioned above. The firm has extensive experience in the fusion sector having acted for UKAEA for decades and having advised on the ITER project in France. Partner Ian Salter is a founding member of FELEX – the fusion energy legal experts group set up by Fusion4Energy and whose reports are shaping the future of fusion regulation and development around the world.