Oxfordshire is a world leader in fusion energy research and innovation and is home to UKAEA’s national fusion energy laboratory. Operated by Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, the iconic Joint European Torus (JET) facility, a cornerstone of fusion energy for over 40 years, is now in the next stage of its lifecycle: decommissioning and repurposing.

Key to Oxfordshire’s energy innovation landscape are the fusion technologies being developed at Harwell Campus and on the UKAEA’s Campus at Culham. Some Oxfordshire companies have attracted substantial investment in this context. One example is Tokamak Energy. It is pursuing fusion through the combined development of spherical tokamaks with high temperature superconducting magnets. Currently based on Milton Park, Tokamak now employs 200 people, and it is on track to deliver grid-ready power by the 2030s. Other key companies include First Light Fusion and General Fusion.

Energy storage

Around 80 organisations and 1,400 people contribute to research into electrochemical energy storage in Harwell’s EnergyTech Cluster.

The Faraday Institution, established to overcome key industrial challenges in energy storage technology,  spans ten major research projects in lithium-ion, beyond lithium-ion technologies and battery recycling, bringing together 27 UK universities, 85 industry partners and 500 researchers.