Sweden wins ITER contract for pilot study

Extensive work on tender pays off

The pilot study will be investigating power converters with a capacity to generate current of up to 15,000 amperes, at a voltage of 180-200 V. In the procurement, which was in the form of a restricted order, ITER emphasised that parties submitting a tender must have the appropriate expertise.

The consortium, comprising RISE and Lund University, put a lot of work into preparing its tender, and a few weeks ago came the notification that they had won the contract. An agreement was signed just before Easter.

Håkan Nilsson led the work on the tender on behalf of RISE, the responsible partner in the consortium. Håkan worked closely with Carlos Martins at ESS, who is also a senior lecturer at Lund University.

“We put a lot of work into this,” explains Håkan. “It’s fantastic that Sweden is gaining a foothold and winning attractive orders from ITER. We’re building confidence in Sweden’s contribution to Big Science, and paving the way for Swedish industry.”

Upcoming business opportunities

Based on the technical solutions developed in the pilot study, production of the 27 power converters will then be the subject of an open procurement process within a time frame of two to three years. This will be an extensive procurement worth approximately SEK 500 million, and will naturally be of interest for Swedish companies.

AQ Elautomatik – subcontractor with specialist expertise

AQ Elautomatik is also linked to the project, as a subcontractor with long experience of building prototypes and production. The company’s specialist expertise was crucial for ITER, as such expertise was a priority in this procurement.