Mission Statement
"To establish a dedicated fusion supply chain across the North West, bringing opportunity and prosperity to the region"
Our Aims
Bay Fusion is a fusion cluster and engagement organisation dedicated to creating opportunities for companies and individuals from the North West to contribute to the nascent fusion energy revolution.
Building on our established relationships with the fusion industry, academia and cutting-edge companies across the region, we create the networks that lead to innovation and revolutionary thinking. But all revolutions require people, therefore, Bay Fusion is dedicated to engaging communities and showing that everyone can contribute to making a fusion a reality and inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers.
History of Bay Fusion
Bay Fusion was established to support a bid to host the UKAEA STEP prototype fusion power plant at Heysham site near Morecambe in the North West of the UK. The bid was a result of a collaboration between Bay Fusion, Lancaster City Council, Lancaster University and many other partners.
During the selection process, the Heysham bid made it through to the last 15 sites, with its excellent grid connectivity, convenient transport links (including a deep-water port) and the quality of the partnership for delivery. Ultimately however, a decommissioned coal power station in West Burton was selected as the site for the STEP facility, however, Bay Fusion continues to build on its work bringing together organisations and people together to promote fusion across the North West.
To support our work establishing a fusion cluster in the North West, Bay Fusion has been supported by UKAEA’s Fusion Industry Programme, Innovate UK, and has collaborated with professional organisations such as the Institution for Engineering and Technology (IET) and Institution of Mechanical Engineering (IMechE)
We host a number of ongoing in-person events with collaboration and participation from fusion organisations such as UKAEA, Tokamak Energy, First Light Fusion and Kyoto Fusioneering, as well as other traditional nuclear energy organisations Nuclear AMRC and Jacobs as well as SMEs, such as Hybrid Instruments. We are also a member of the UKAEA's "The Fusion Cluster" and help connect the north west to their ongoing UK wide activities.
Who is UKAEA?
The UK Atomic Energy Authority is a research organisation that is part of the UK Government and are responsible for the development of fusion energy in the United Kingdom. Headquartered at Culham, Oxford, they have been a global leader in the development of fusion for nearly 60 years from its conception, and the culmination of their scientific and technological development has led to this exciting moment. STEP will provide a roadmap to take fusion from a large scale science experiment to a real world at-scale power plant demonstrator. Learn more about UKAEA's fascinating history here.