£1.4bn investment in electric vehicles and fusion reactor tech announced

The investment builds on the Government’s record investment in R&D, and this new package hopes to enable UK industry to seize new opportunities while cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

It also forms part of the Government’s ambition to lead the world in tackling climate change, including by legislating to end the UK’s contribution to climate change by 2050 and boosting the whole ‘clean growth sector’ by promoting innovation, jobs and export opportunities.

Fusion reactors

The Business Secretary has announced new efforts to realise fusion energy through a £222 million investment in a fusion reactor design programme, known as STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production).

A world first, the UK will aim to design, develop and build a commercially viable fusion power plant ready to provide energy to the grid by 2040. The 20-year project will create highly skilled jobs across the country and could create a brand-new industry for the UK with global export potential.

In parallel, the government will provide £184 million over the next five years to develop new fusion facilities, infrastructure and apprenticeships, centred on the Culham Campus in Oxfordshire. This investment will make the UK a global hub for fusion innovation, support the delivery of STEP and attract private sector fusion companies to the UK.

Electric vehicles

The government has announced up to £1 billion additional funding to develop and embed the next generation of automotive technologies.

This funding will be used to develop UK supply chains for the large-scale production of electric vehicles and will also be used for further R&D in UK research centres.

It will accelerate mass production of key technologies in the UK through major investments in the manufacturing of batteries, electric motors, power electronics, and hydrogen fuel cells, along with their component and materials supply chains.