Germany’s Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger has announced a new funding programme “Fusion 2040” to support research for development of a nuclear fusion power plant. “I want us to be among the first in Germany to build a fusion power plant,” she said. “Fusion is the huge opportunity to solve all of our energy problems.”
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF - Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung) has long been promoting fusion research at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Garching and Greifswald, at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and at the Jülich Research Centre (FZJ - Forschungszentrum Jülich).
This institutional funding is now being supplemented with the new project funding programme intended to advance technologies, components and materials needed for a fusion power plant in the first phase up to the early 2030s. In the second phase, the focus will be on integration into a power plant design. The funding programme is open on technology and addresses both magnetic and laser fusion.
In order to achieve the construction of a fusion power plant as quickly as possible, the programme is essentially based on application-oriented collaborative research as a form of public-private partnership (PPP). Projects on specific sub-technologies at research institutions, universities and industry will be carried out together. “As a result, new knowledge from research can be taken up at an early stage and know-how transferred to the domestic industry for further exploitation,” BMFB noted.
“Germany offers excellent conditions for the construction of fusion power plants thanks to its excellent research landscape and strong industry, said Stark-Watzinger. “With our new funding programme‚ Fusion 2040, we are starting research on the way to a fusion power plant and want to pave the way for the first fusion power plant in Germany. We want to build a fusion ecosystem from industry, start-ups and science so that a fusion power plant in Germany becomes a reality as quickly as possible. The fusion ecosystem is intended to bundle Germany's existing strengths and create synergies between the different actors. The worldwide race is running. I want us in Germany to be among the first to build a fusion power plant. We must not miss this huge opportunity, especially with a view to growth and prosperity.”
In September 2023, Stark-Watzinger announced in an official press statement the intention to "invest massively and openly in fusion technology" including steps towards a fusion power plant. She announced an additional €370m ($403m) will be contributed to the German fusion programme over the next five years. Combined with the existing funding, this will exceed €1bn for fusion research from 2024 to 2028.
Image: Bettina Stark-Watzinger, Germany’s Federal Research Minister, announcing the country's new Fusion 2040 funding programme to support research for development of a nuclear fusion power plant (courtesy of BMBF)
