On 13 January, the contracts resulting from the Pre-commercial Public Procurement (PCP) of R&D services for the development of innovative solutions in the field of validation of systems and materials in fusion energy, managed by the CDTI with the collaboration of the IFMIF-DONES Spain Consortium, were launched. This project is co-financed by the CDTI and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the 2021-2027 programme.

This initiative’s objective is to develop innovative solutions, currently non-existent in the market, to solve the needs identified by the IFMIF-DONES Spain Consortium and which can be validated in a pre-operational environment.

The prototypes from these R&D services, called Integrated Technology Validators (VATIs), include highly relevant and novel technologies in accelerator systems and lithium target and test systems.

The VATI tender was divided into two lots:

Lot 1 (VATIAC): High Intensity Hadron Accelerator Systems.
Lot 2 (VATIST): Experimental target systems and irradiation test areas.
Both projects will be implemented in three phases: Solution design; Prototype development and testing; and Pre-operational validation.

The base bidding budget amounted to a maximum of 40,000,000 euros (excluding VAT).