BBA 2025 Winner Profile: New Market Entrant – Tokamak Energy

A mere nine months since its establishment, Tokamak Energy KK has demonstrated an impressive initial performance, scooping the hotly contested 2025 British Business Award for New Market Entrant.

A Japanese subsidiary of the Oxfordshire, UK-based Tokamak Energy that was founded as a spin-out from the UK Atomic Energy Authority, the company was recognised at the black-tie gala of the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan for having 'launched meaningful operations in the Japanese market' not earlier than January 1, 2024.

Accepting the accolade, Dr Toru Fukushima, vice president and country manager of Tokamak Energy KK, said the trophy is 'recognition of what we have achieved this year and a great boost for the team during this important time of expansion in Japan.'

Strong start

Tokamak Energy KK was incorporated in Tokyo in February 2025 with the goal of expanding global operations and deepening UK–Japan collaboration in fusion energy and superconducting technologies.

The process that powers the sun, fusion occurs when two light atomic nuclei are forced together to form a heavier nucleus: a process that creates a large amount of energy but does not produce carbon dioxide or the long-life radioactive waste associated with nuclear fission.

In April, the company was selected for an award under the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Green Transformation-Related Foreign Company Tokyo Market Entry Support Program, designed to provide intensive support for overseas firms with high level technological capabilities related to Japan’s industrial and energy policies. Tokamak Energy KK was one of seven awardees—from 59 entrants in 20 countries—to be selected due to its leading advances in transformative fusion energy and high temperature superconductors.

Another key milestone was an agreement with Furukawa Electric Group, in June, to establish a joint operational base in Japan for manufacturing critical fusion energy power plant magnet technology. The move followed the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the UK and Japan to cooperate on fusion energy as a means of accelerating both countries’ decarbonisation efforts.

At Expo 2025’s Future of Earth and Biodiversity Week, in September, Tokamak Energy KK supported the UK Pavilion’s 'Come Power the Future' event to showcase the UK’s leadership in clean energy innovation. The company’s participation presented opportunities for its team to engage with the public and promote its technologies.

Finally, in October, Tokamak Energy KK held its official launch at the British Embassy, Tokyo, an event attended by some 120 people from the fields of industry, academia, government and investment.

'We’ve achieved a lot during this year. We’ve demonstrated our commitment to the Japanese market by putting the subsidiary on the ground and starting to grow our team and build out our relationships,' said Ross Morgan, president of Tokamak Energy KK. 'We are proud to have developed many important partnerships with leading organisations in Japan and look forward to delivering breakthrough technologies that will reshape sectors and address some of humanity’s most pressing challenges.'

Fusion energy

Tokamak Energy has long recognised the importance of Japan, both as a market for fusion energy and as a collaborator for the development of fusion energy. As the country is an island nation with few natural resources, limited space for renewable energy and challenges facing its use of nuclear energy, fusion is an ideal energy source, explained Morgan.

Furthermore, the Japanese government aims to develop fusion power capabilities through private-sector leadership and international collaboration as part of its Fusion Energy Innovation Strategy. This national plan presents opportunities for Tokamak Energy KK to support the country’s energy security and decarbonisation goals.

In addition, Japan is critical for the fusion industry because of its 'strong engineering and manufacturing skills base and supply chain,' said Morgan.

One of Japan’s leading public-private partnerships is the FAST (Fusion Advanced Superconducting Tokamak) research support programme (a tokamak is a device used to produce fusion energy). This industry-academia collaboration, led by Tokyo-based Starlight Engine Ltd and supported by Tokamak Energy KK and other companies, aims to demonstrate fusion-based electricity generation in Japan in the 2030s.

Tokamak Energy KK hopes such international collaborations and partnerships with government, industry and academia can help it support the energy security and decarbonisation goals of both Japan and the UK.

'Countries like Japan and the UK are at the forefront of fusion development, research and technology and I think there is a lot of scope for bilateral collaboration. Tokamak Energy is well positioned to help bring together the two countries so that we can both benefit from the skills and capabilities that exist and work together to move fusion closer to commercialisation,' said Morgan.

Superconducting technology

Tokamak Energy has also set up TE Magnetics, a business division to develop the high temperature superconducting (HTS) technology born from the company’s research and development for fusion.

Unlike traditional copper magnets that get hot when an electric current passes through them, high temperature superconducting magnets can be cooled down while in use, allowing them to generate very high magnetic fields continuously, even in compact spaces.

Tokamak Energy aims to leverage this HTS technology to transform a wide range of industries through applications for data centres, medical science, advanced power systems and propulsion for land, sea, air and space.

'We’ve got projects and customers across these different markets in different applications,' said Morgan, adding that some of the applications likely to be commercialised first are in Japan.

Strategic outlook

In the short term, Morgan sees the BBA win as 'a platform to continue to grow the business and an opportunity to build awareness of our organisation and what we’re doing, as well as our base of partnerships and collaborations.'

Over the next six months, the company also hopes to capitalise on the traction gained in both the fusion business and the HTS technology business by securing some customer contracts while building on its solid reputation.

Further ahead, the company is eyeing international growth, to expand on its operation in Japan and in the United States, which was launched in West Virginia in 2023.

'We see other opportunities for our technology in South Korea, Singapore and other parts of Asia. Our Japan office could be the base for us to explore those markets as well,' said Morgan.

For more details, visit: https://tokamakenergy.com/japan/