The European Spallation Source, ESS, is now being constructed near Lund, Sweden. It will be a world leading facility for neutron science with neutron beams around 30 times brighter than what exists today. The facility will have a 2 GeV proton linac with 5 MW average beam power, a rotating tungsten target with innovative and highly efficient moderators, and 22 public neutron instruments for a wide range of scientific studies. ESS is a collaboration between 17 European member states, hosted by Sweden and Denmark. The construction started one year ago, and first neutrons are planned for 2019. The talk will give a general introduction to ESS and present the current status with emphasis on the machine and the accelerator.
