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(Illustration photo: STEP Main image, www.nuvia.com)
Optima Systems Consultancy has been named a specialist partner within the ILIOS consortium, appointed by UK Fusion Energy as Construction Partner for Phase 1 of the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme.
STEP is a strategic initiative sponsored by the Department of Energy Security & Net Zero and led by UK Fusion Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). The 4.5-year contract worth £200 million will cover Phase 1 of the project.
As part of this landmark programme, Optima will provide Systems Thinking and Systems Engineering expertise to help shape the design, integration and delivery of one of the UK’s most ambitious clean‑energy programmes. STEP aims to realise a commercially viable fusion power plant at West Burton by 2040, supporting national energy security and advancing global progress towards sustainable, abundant and sovereign energy.
Supporting NUVIA, Kier Group, AECOM, Turner & Townsend and AL_A, we are committed to enabling robust decision‑making, engineering excellence and a whole‑systems approach across this complex and transformative programme.
The STEP project is expected to create highly skilled jobs, strengthen supply chains and support economic development across the Midlands, leaving a lasting social and industrial legacy.
Lloyd Pryce, Managing Director at Optima commented: “We believe Systems Thinking is essential to solving the UK’s most challenging engineering problems. We are proud to support the future of fusion and to contribute to a programme with such significant national importance.”