On July 5, 2022, the EUROfusion Horizon Event took place in Brussels, marking the beginning of a planned annual series of events. At the livestreamed event, which was moderated by EUROfusion Programme Manager Tony Donné, EUROfusion presented past and future highlights of fusion research.
European progress was celebrated, such as the recent fusion energy record at the Joint European Tokamak (JET) in Culham or the progress towards a heat exhaust for future fusion power plants. Furthermore, an outlook on EUROfusion's new seven-year research program was given and collaborations to grow the European fusion industry were presented.
One focus was on the start of conceptual work for the first European demonstration fusion power plant DEMO. This first-of-a-kind fusion device will demonstrate the net production of 300 to 500 megawatts of clean and safe fusion energy to the grid by the middle of the century. In this context, a special issue of the journal "Fusion Engineering & Design" was presented, in which the DEMO team presents the results of the Pre-Concept Design Phase (2014-2020).
Furthermore, the role of industry in fusion research and the importance of start-ups were also discussed.
Among the invited speakers were Joanna Drake (Deputy Director General, DG Research & Innovation, EU Commission), Prof. Dr. Sibylle Günter (Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics), Prof. Dr. Ambrogio Fasoli (Chair of EUROfusion General Assembly, EPFL) and other representatives of politics and fusion research.
The recording of the event can be viewed here.