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Focused Energy, a U.S.-German start-up pursuing laser-driven fusion power, has signed a non-binding agreement with the largest German electric utility RWE and the state of Hessen to build a fusion research and development facility in Germany, Focused Energy’s CEO Scott Mercer told Reuters on Monday.
Focused Energy plans to have the facility erected by 2035 at the site of the former Biblis nuclear power plant, which was operated by RWE. The former nuclear power plant in the German state of Hessen was commissioned in 1974 and ended operations in 2011.
Since then Germany has closed down all its nuclear power plants following a German governmental decision to phase out nuclear fission power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in March 2011.
Germany could now host a nuclear fusion facility within ten years, thanks to Focused Energy’s plan.
The preliminary agreement with RWE and the state of Hessen “would be the beginning and the learning lesson towards building a supply chain for what would eventually be global deployment,” Focused Energy’s Mercer told Reuters in an interview.
The German support and RWE’s interest could push the project ahead, according to the executive.
“The seriousness of the federal government in Germany towards pursuing fusion as part of the energy mix is, frankly, two orders of magnitude higher than it has been in the U.S,” Mercer told Reuters.
In October 2024, Focused Energy secured a $2.7 million (2.5 million euros) grant from the Hessen government to further its work in laser-based nuclear fusion. The funding, which includes state sources and funds from the European Regional Development Fund, will support the company’s construction of a new, larger laboratory in Darmstadt, the state of Hessen said.
Nuclear fusion research and development has gained momentum in recent years after several momentous breakthroughs and achievements. The global race to overcome the engineering challenges to achieving zero-emission power from a nuclear reaction without risking disaster and radiation has heated up.
