(ANSA) - La Spezia, November 20 - An Italian supermagnet destined for the ITER experimental fusion reactor in southern France on Monday left the La Spezia site of ASG Superconductors for the local port from which it will be shipped to Porto Marghera near Venice. Cadarache-based ITER aims to demonstrate the feasibility of the energy of the future, imitating the processes that happen in stars. The giant coil is the fruit of collaboration between Italian industry, the alternative energy group ENEA and the EU's Fusion for Energy (F4E) agency. ASG Superconductors is owned by the Malacalza family.

The company's CEO, Sergio Frattini, said the magnet was proof of Italian leadership in the sector.

"It's an amazing magnet in terms of size and shows our leadership in the sector of conductive supermagnets," he said.

F4E magnets chief Alessandro Bonito-Oliva said the participation in the fusion reactor was "a great opportunity" for European research and development to create "new, young technologies". The new magnet is the biggest ever made in the world.

ITER ("The Way" in Latin) is one of the most ambitious energy projects in the world today.

In southern France, 35 nations are collaborating to build the world's largest tokamak, a magnetic fusion device that has been designed to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale and carbon-free source of energy based on the same principle that powers our Sun and stars.

The experimental campaign that will be carried out at ITER is crucial to advancing fusion science and preparing the way for the fusion power plants of tomorrow.

ITER will be the first fusion device to produce net energy and will be the first fusion device to maintain fusion for long periods of time. And ITER will be the first fusion device to test the integrated technologies, materials, and physics regimes necessary for the commercial production of fusion-based electricity.

