Despite the increasing demand for high-energy erbium lasers for LIDAR imaging applications, the scaling of the current Er-Yb co-doped technology is still hindered by a 1 µm parasitic emission. In this study, we present the first, to the best of our knowledge, utilization of the REPUSIL powder synthesis method to fabricate a 55 µm double-clad fiber with a remarkably large modal area. Doped solely with erbium and free of ytterbium, its estimated cladding absorption is 2 dB/m at 976 nm, enabling short amplification lengths. We demonstrate its potential through direct amplification of a GHz femtosecond laser (M2 =1.12) and notably, the generation of 1.8 mJ, 37 ns Q-switched pulses in oscillator configuration (M2 =1.46).