German startup Proxima Fusion, together with the state of Bavaria, energy company RWE and the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, have signed a memorandum of understanding to build the first ever commercial fusion power plant. According to the partners, the project is intended to represent a major step towards a new era of emission-free energy.
Prime Minister of Bavaria Markus Söder described the initiative as another milestone in the region's technological development. „Nuclear fusion represents an entirely new technology capable of delivering stable, emission-free and clean electricity in virtually unlimited quantities,“ he said. It could cover the rapidly growing energy consumption caused by electromobility, artificial intelligence and data centres, he said.
The project is divided into two main phases. In the first phase, the Alpha demonstration reactor will be built at a cost of around €2 billion. The facility will be built in Garching, near Munich, close to the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics research centre, and aims to demonstrate for the first time the so-called net energy gain - the condition where a reactor produces more energy than it consumes to operate. Operation is expected in the 2030s.
The demonstration project is to be followed by a commercial power plant called Stellaris, planned for Gundremmingen in Bavaria on the site of a former nuclear power plant that was shut down in 2021. The site will be provided by the energy group RWE, which will also contribute its experience in building and operating large-scale power plants.
Funding is to be a combination of public and private sources. The Bavarian government has indicated that it could cover up to 20 percent of the costs, while Proxima Fusion plans to raise another 20 percent or so from international investors. The rest of the funding is to be negotiated with the German federal government.
The project's technology is based on the so-called stellarator - an alternative to the more commonly used tokamaks. This concept promises more stable plasma containment, a key requirement for the long-term and safe operation of fusion reactors.
Europe has long been a leader in fusion research, but no country has yet been able to transfer the technology to commercial operation. If the project goes ahead as planned, it could give Germany a major role in the future global energy industry while reducing the continent's dependence on energy imports.
According to the partners, the construction of the demonstration reactor and the subsequent power plant could create thousands of jobs and lay the foundation for a completely new industry in Europe.
gnews.cz - GH
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