Nuclear fusion: Germany seeks to join race to bring first fusion power plant online

Research into generating energy through nuclear fusion is making significant progress, boosting optimism among supporters of the technology. At the same time, it is also attracting investment in the sector. Germany is also making an increasing effort to join the race to develop a nuclear fusion power plant.

For decades, nuclear fusion has been regarded as a technology of the future that would always remain just that. Although fusion is the most abundant source of energy in the universe, the challenges involved in harnessing the Sun’s energy on Earth have so far proved insurmountable. While the theory is well understood, the practical task of fusing hydrogen atoms to release energy remains a technical puzzle.

However, some notable recent advances have sparked a surge in investment. One milestone was reached in December 2022, when the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in the United States achieved “net energy gain” for the first time by firing the world’s largest laser at a small pellet of hydrogen plasma. The facility as a whole still consumed far more energy than it produced. LLNL scientists managed to repeat the feat the following year.

According to the Fusion Industry Association, the field is now experiencing a “technological explosion”. Last year, 13 new nuclear fusion companies began operating, bringing the total to 43. Together, they have attracted $6.2 billion in investment. Nineteen of these companies expect to supply fusion power to the grid by 2035. US company Helion Energy has already signed an agreement with Microsoft to supply electricity in 2028.

The International Atomic Energy Agency previously expected Iter, the huge multinational fusion reactor being built in France, to become fully operational only from 2050. Recent advances in other areas, however, have prompted the agency to establish a fusion task force to coordinate regulation.

“I now tell them that we should be aiming for the mid-2030s. We need to be ready by 2040,” says Ryan Wagner, the IAEA’s technical lead for fusion energy.

US in the lead, but Germany also has expertise

As in many other technology sectors, the United States is leading the world, with 25 private nuclear fusion companies. Germany, which has invested heavily in basic fusion research, can also boast impressive expertise and two of the most promising start-ups, Marvel Fusion and Proxima Fusion, both based in Munich.

Thanks to its huge research base and engineering capabilities, Germany is well placed to develop nuclear fusion. Last September, the federal government announced that it would invest 1 billion euros over the next five years to develop a nuclear fusion power plant in Germany as quickly as possible. Some, however, doubt whether this funding will be enough for the country to win such a capital-intensive race.

Marvel’s chief operating officer, Heike Freund, said she welcomed growing political support for the sector in Germany, but doubted whether the country could compete with the United States, given Washington’s activist policies and dynamic venture capital sector.

“We’re facing a funding shortfall. We’re missing one zero. … Americans have set themselves a 10-year mission and are doing everything they can to achieve it,” Freund said last week at the Digital-Life-Design conference.

Similarly, Proxima, the first company to spin out in 60 years from the prestigious Max Planck Institute and its Institute for Plasma Physics, says it would need 500 million euros to fund the construction of a demonstration fusion power plant using its stellarator magnetic-confinement technology by 2031.

“Stellarators are the clearest and most robust path to developing the technology,” says Proxima chief executive Francesco Sciortino.

Germany’s regulatory framework remains uncertain, however, and the shortage of private capital in Europe makes it difficult to raise such sums. Despite the enthusiasm in the nuclear fusion industry and the modest advances made in recent years, the technology will not help solve the climate crisis in time.

Because of this uncertain timeline, critics say it would be better to direct investment towards faster development of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power. German companies, however, have already lost ground in both sectors to Chinese competitors backed by state subsidies.