FUSION FOR GERMANY

WNN - 14 March 2025 - A memorandum of understanding has been signed by representatives from politics, business and science aimed at establishing a laser-based nuclear fusion power plant at the former Biblis nuclear power plant in the German state of Hesse by 2035.

The MoU was signed on 13 March by the Hessian state government under the leadership of Minister-President Boris Rhein, Minister of Economic Affairs Kaweh Mansoori, Minister of Research Timon Gremmels, the fusion company Focused Energy, the Technical University of Darmstadt, the GSI Helmholtz Centre as well as Schott and other industrial companies. It was signed during the first Round Table on Nuclear Fusion, held at the Biblis plant.

In the MoU, the signatories commit to pursuing the path to commercial fusion energy for Hesse and establishing the state as a leading location for cutting-edge research and the development of laser-based nuclear fusion. To this end, a demonstration plant and, later, a power plant will be funded at the Biblis site. The two-unit plant was shut down in March 2011 in response to the accident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The declaration also aims to establish a state-of-the-art fusion technology centre in Hesse, which will promote research, development and commercial applications.

"We need an energy mix that is open to all technologies, because the sun doesn't always shine, and the wind doesn't always blow," Minister-President Rhein said. "Only if energy is available at all times and remains affordable for everyone can we secure our prosperity. Nuclear fusion can be the game changer and bring about the decisive breakthrough."

He added: "It is a very good signal that the future federal government intends to promote fusion research more strongly and is pursuing the goal of building the world's first fusion reactor in Germany ... I am firmly convinced that we can make nuclear fusion the energy supplier of the future. Biblis should become a nucleus for energy supply 'made in Hesse' - and Hesse should thus become the number one location for nuclear fusion. The state government is providing up to EUR20 million (USD21.8 million) this year for nuclear fusion research."

In addition to state investments, the government also intends to use private funds and funding from federal and EU programmes.

"With companies like Focused Energy in Darmstadt and the excellent local scientific institutions, we have players who are setting standards in international fusion research," said State Minister of Economic Affairs Kaweh Mansoori. "This offers Hesse a historic opportunity not only to develop a key technology, but also to produce it competitively. This is a crucial step towards strengthening our innovative strength and independence at a time when international supply chains and energy imports are becoming increasingly uncertain."

Markus Roth, co-founder of Focused Energy and Professor of Laser and Plasma Physics at TU Darmstadt said: "Germany now has a historic opportunity to become a leader in the industrialisation of fusion energy. With TU Darmstadt and Focused Energy, Hesse is already a world leader in laser fusion research and has everything in its hands to take the lead in the construction and operation of fusion power plants."

"We are currently investing very heavily in German innovation in Biblis and Darmstadt," added Thomas Forner, also co-founder and President of Focused Energy. "Fusion energy is indispensable for the economy and society of the future and can become a game changer in energy generation for Germany."

Focused Energy was founded in 2021 as a technology spin-off of TU Darmstadt and National Energetics to commercialise fusion and is based in German and the USA. Its approach to creating nuclear fusion power uses a focused proton beam to ignite millimetre-scale sphere deuterium/tritium fuel targets to create fusion reactions, which it says builds on the work achieved by the National Ignition Facility laser at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Last year, Focused Energy received funding of EUR2.5 million, of which EUR500,000 came from state funds and EUR2 million from the European Regional Development Fund.

In March 2024, a new funding programme for nuclear fusion research was announced by Germany's Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger aimed at paving the way for the first fusion power plant to be constructed in Germany by 2040.

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