UK Industrial Fusion Solutions: Commercial Support
Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) is a government-funded industry partnership programme, designed to demonstrate the commercial viability of fusion energy by building a prototype plant to deliver a consistent fusion energy supply and to stimulate the Fusion Energy industry in the UK. Sponsored by the Department for Energy and Net Zero, it’s part of the Government’s Major Projects Portfolio – and is the UK’s flagship fusion programme. 4C were chosen to support day-to day Commercial and Procurement capability and lead the work to develop supply chain solutions.
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The Problem
The STEP programme is a first of a kind operation requiring partnerships with Fusion, Engineering and Construction experts. The initial phase of activity was to help set-up UK Industrial Fusion Solutions (UKIFS) to act as the Intelligent Client for the Programme by providing operational Commercial and Procurement capability. Subsequent phases will provide Commercial expertise to help procure the engineering and construction partners to form the integrated STEP delivery team.
The programme was looking for a partner organisation to support day-to day Commercial and Procurement capability while also leading the work to develop supply chain solutions relating to rare or novel requirements and creating a strategy to engage prospective system partners who will be viewed as mission critical to the programme.
The Solution
4C has a team of dedicated resources working in partnership with the STEP team. Our team has led the work to set-up partnership agreements with other parts of the Authority and to design and implement the Commercial transition plan to ‘Stand-up’ UKIFS as an entity.
The team are currently providing expertise in preparation for a competitive dialogue for the procurement of the Engineering and Construction partners from early 2025.
The Impact
4C are making a significant commercial contribution to a programme exploring the potential for fusion energy to deliver safe, sustainable, low carbon energy for generations to come.
The programme will support the creation of thousands of jobs during the construction phase and a pipeline of long-term highly skilled jobs during operations. The UK aims to be a global hub for a Fusion expertise in its industrial supply chain, leading to significant economic opportunities.
The ‘Whole Plant Partner’ operating model combines the best of the public and private sectors to form an integrated alliance.