Fusion Island
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Fusion Island is a 2005 concept for the commercialization of fusion energy that has been boosted in the 2020s with, for example, worldwide interest in the use of hydrogen compatible (20k) cryogenics for future tokamak fusion energy generators. The STEP demonstration facility in the UK is, in the mid-2020s, being designed with approximately 20K cryogenics in mind[1] . Fusion Island differs from more orthodox fusion commercialization ideas as it is not associated with the generation of electricity for the grid. Similarly, as it does not involve grid electricity production or use, it stands apart from many hydrogen production ideas based upon what is becoming termed the "Hydricity Economy".
The term Fusion Island was first coined in 2005[2]. The Fusion Island concept posits an oil industry funded tokamak-based fusion energy facility dedicated to the production for distribution and sale of cryogenic liquid hydrogen[2]. Importantly, the same liquid hydrogen is also used to cool large tokamak magnets made from high temperature superconductor (HTS)[2]. In the mid-2020s there is an explosion of interest in fusion commercialization,[3] and within that space Fusion Island is just one example of a commercialization strategy.[4] It is a particular example of a fusion commercialization strategy based on the supply of process heat to industry[5]. The Fusion Island concept greatly reduces dependence on expensive liquid helium, instead it uses the cryogenic liquid hydrogen produced for sale[2]. Fusion example relies upon the ideas of hydrogen cryomagnetics. Fusion Island is an example of a compelling technology concept that has not yet been developed. As such it is similar, in conceptual status, to other bold prospective technology concepts in other sectors, such as the space elevator or Hyperloop. As of 2026, no Fusion Island is yet in operation.
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Origins
The term Fusion Island was first coined in October 2005 by William Nuttall, Bartek Glowacki and Richard Clarke writing in the British magazine The Engineer..[2] The concept of Fusion Island was further explored for the UK Energy Research Centre at an April 2007 meeting hosted by Worcester College Oxford and the Culham Science Centre. The meeting had the title: Sustainable Hydrogen Production: A role for Fusion?[6] The Fusion Island concept was further elaborated in July 2008[7]. A 2025 commentary can be found in chapter 11 of the book Commercializing Fusion Energy - Second Edition[4]
In 2005 Nuttall et al. defined Fusion Island in the following terms:
"On 'Fusion Island', hydrogen would be:
- The product sold commercially;
- Potentially the cryogenic liquid used to cool the fusion reactor magnets;
- The source of energy to fire-up the fusion machine; and
- A link to an industrial sector that is willing and able to fund the high capital cost of a fusion system."[2]
It built upon an existing range of concepts for hydrogen production using fusion energy[8], but it was Fusion Island that first posited that the presence of a cryogenic liquid hydrogen product could facilitate operation of the tokamak itself. A Fusion Island would supply liquid hydrogen to global markets in a manner similar to the liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes of today. A graphical impression of the earliest form of the Fusion Island concept is available online.[9]
The UKERC meeting observed that in 2007: "... currently there was no business model for Hydrogen, neither was there one for fusion, nor for the coupling of Hydrogen to fusion - but the economies of scale concerned with these technologies were great."[6]
In the 2020s, however, the question of fusion as a source of commercial hydrogen production is attracting more attention.[3] Key technological enablers of the Fusion Island concept are becoming available and the pressure on the international oil industry to find low carbon alternative business models is growing.
In 2022 a Japanese fusion start-up, Kyoto Fusioneering, proposed a fusion cluster concept giving prominent emphasis to low-carbon hydrogen production and maritime distribution[10]
Role of the Oil Industry
The concept is that Fusion Island would be developed by an International Oil Company (IOC) perhaps in collaboration with an industrial gases company.[2]. Such companies include the necessary skills and competences but also such engineering propositions are well-matched to risk appetite of an IOC[7]. IOC stock valuations have long been shaped by a desire to see reserve replacement.[11] As a liquid fuel production facility, Fusion Island has the potential to support reserve replacement thinking.[7] In 2021 oil companies ENI and Equinor both invested in Commonwealth Fusion Systems.[12] Meanwhile Cenovus Energy has invested in Canadian fusion company General Fusion.[13]
An alternative source of low carbon process heat for IOC process heat applications is conventional nuclear fission energy.[14] For many industrial applications the safety case for Fusion Island can be expected to be simpler than for its fission equivalent - as discussed in Chapter 11 of reference[4].
Alternative usages
Use of term "Fusion Island" by First Light Fusion
In 2019 UK fusion company First Light Fusion started using the term fusion island in a different sense to that described above,[15] and elaborated in 2023.[16] This alternate use of the term is a variant of the established term "nuclear island" in conventional commercial nuclear fission based power plant design, where the plant can be said to be divided into the nuclear island, on its own basemat, with the electricity generating turbines generally being part of a separate balance of plant.
German Parliament perspective on "Fusion Island"
In December 2024 the German Parliament's Office for Technology Assessment published a report entitled On the way to a possible nuclear fusion power plant - knowledge gaps and research needs from the perspective of technology assessment..[17] The report observes: "It is currently unclear whether such a Fusion Island could be operated economically, but hydrogen will foreseeably become an energy source traded in large quantities worldwide."[18]This German parliamentary report introduces the idea that Fusion Island could be associated with seawater electrolysis and desalination. These are ideas in a spirit of a "Hydricity Economy" that extend the original Fusion Island proposition[17]
References
- ↑ "UKAEA signs facility agreement with CVŘ to progress UK prototype fusion plant design". STEP Fusion. 2 May 2024. Retrieved 26 February 2026. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "A trip to 'Fusion Island'". The Engineer. 31 October 2005. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Handley, Malcolm C.; Slesinski, Daniel; Hsu, Scott C. (2021-07-10). "Potential Early Markets for Fusion Energy". Journal of Fusion Energy. 40 (2): 18. arXiv:2101.09150. Bibcode:2021JFuE...40...18H. doi:10.1007/s10894-021-00306-4. ISSN 1572-9591.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Nuttall, William J.; Konishi, Satoshi; Takeda, Shutaro; Webbe-Wood, David (24 November 2025). Commercializing Fusion Energy, How Small Businesses are Transforming Big Science (2nd ed.). United Kingdom: Porto Professional. ISBN 978-184995-604-8.CS1 maint: Date and year (link) Search this book on
- ↑ Konishi, Satoshi (2001-11-01). "Use of fusion energy as a heat for various applications". Fusion Engineering and Design. 58-59: 1103–1107. Bibcode:2001FusED..58.1103K. doi:10.1016/S0920-3796(01)00559-2. ISSN 0920-3796.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Sustainable Hydrogen Production: A role for Fusion?". UKERC. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Nuttall, WJ; Glowacki, BA (July 2008). "Viewpoint: Fusion Island". Nuclear Engineering International. 53 (648): 38–41.
- ↑ Schultz, K.R. (September 2003). "Production of Hydrogen by Fusion Energy: A Review and Perspective". Fusion Science and Technology. 44 (2): 393–399. doi:10.13182/FST03-A366. ISSN 1536-1055.
- ↑ The Engineer Magazine (2005). "Fusion Island - artist's impression". Cambridge University Engineering Department.
- ↑ Kyoto Fusioneering (2022). "Explanation of our contribution to a carbon-neutral society".
- ↑ "Reserve-Replacement Ratio: What it Means, How it Works". Investopedia. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
- ↑ Commonwealth Fusion Systems - News and Media (1 December 2021). "Commonwealth Fusion Systems Raises $1.8 Billion in Funding to Commercialize Fusion Energy".
- ↑ Duggan, Wayne (23 September 2023). "Nuclear Fusion: 5 Ways to Invest in the Energy Breakthrough". US News and World Report.
- ↑ "Nuclear Process Heat - World Nuclear Association". world-nuclear.org. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- ↑ Ingham, Lucy (2019-10-15). "Fusion island breakthrough may make power source viable "up to a decade sooner"". Verdict. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
- ↑ Fusion, First Light. "UKAEA confirms viability of concept at heart of fusion energy reactor design | First Light Fusion". firstlightfusion.com. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Stegmann, Bernd (2025-11-02). "TAB - Themen und Projekte - Projekteübersicht - Auf dem Weg zu einem möglichen Kernfusionskraftwerk – Wissenslücken und Forschungsbedarfe aus Sicht der Technikfolgenabschätzung". www.tab-beim-bundestag.de (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2025-02-18.
- ↑ Original German language text: "Ob eine solche Fusionsinsel ökonomisch zu betreiben wäre, ist derzeit noch ungeklärt, allerdings wird Wasserstoff absehbar zu einem in großen Mengen weltweit gehandelten Energieträger werden."
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