Por Redaccion 
The Minister of University, Research and Innovation, José Carlos Gómez Villamandos, has chaired his first meeting of 2025 at the helm of the consortium’s board of directors for the advancement of the particle accelerator IFMIF-DONES in Granada, after the rotating presidency of this body fell on the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities in 2024. During this working session, Gómez Villamandos emphasized that this year will be crucial for the future of the scientific project, as it will see the emergence of the framework agreement for design and construction that will drive, among other things, contracts for the conditioning of the site and the foundation of the building that will house the scientific infrastructure. This framework agreement still needs to go through the Council of Ministers for approval and has an estimated overall budget of around 300 million euros, to be contributed equally by both administrations committed to the development of IFMIF-DONES.
The Minister of University reiterated the regional government’s commitment to the establishment of this facility, to which Andalusia aims to contribute a total of 107 million euros by 2027, coming from both the regional government’s own funds and the FEDER Andalusia 2021-2027 Financing Framework. This amount will also be increased to 211 million euros by 2033, an amount that will also need to be allocated by the Ministry of Science in the same period.
Overall, Spain envisages a total allocation of 422.50 million euros by 2033 for the particle accelerator, divided equally between both administrations. Out of this total, 376.72 million will be allocated to investments and 45.79 million to current expenses, personnel, etc.
Gómez Villamandos also highlighted that the Junta de Andalucía is exploring the possibility of channeling the resources envisaged by the community through the STEP mechanism (Strategic Technologies Platform for Europe), aimed at supporting investments in critical technologies with the goal of strengthening the long-term sovereignty and competitiveness of the industry in the European Union. «This instrument aims to enhance research, development, and implementation of essential technologies for the competitiveness and technological sovereignty of Europe,» he explained, adding that «this infrastructure meets all the conditions for this purpose.»
The Board of Directors is the governing and administrative body of the consortium and is responsible for setting the general guidelines and criteria for action, approving the investment and financing programs of the entity, and the annual plan of actions and projects, among other competencies. It also gives its approval to the draft budgets and annual accounts. In the working meeting held, the action plan and objectives for 2025 were approved, among other points.
Andalusia, an international benchmark in the search for clean energy
The particle accelerator, which will be built in the municipality of Escúzar in Granada, has as its main mission to test, validate, and qualify the materials that will be used in future nuclear fusion power plants. This facility represents an opportunity to make the community a national and international benchmark in knowledge and research, especially regarding the search for clean and unlimited energy sources. Furthermore, the deployment of synergies and knowledge transfer it will entail will enable the Granada and Andalusian business fabric to apply new technological developments in other areas such as basic physics, medicine, astrophysics, or even industry.
This scientific facility will have a multiplier effect on both the economic development of the province of Granada and the region, as well as on its business and technological ecosystem. The University of Granada conducted a study on the socio-economic impact associated with its implementation, which established that Andalusia will see an increase in the production of goods and services by over 4,000 million euros and the generation of jobs, both direct and indirect, by over a thousand per year during all phases of the initiative, with the GVA increasing by 1,800 million.