German stellarator start-up Proxima Fusion and the State of Lower Saxony have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to build Europe’s first large-scale industrial factory for high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tape.
Some €140m ($162.6m) has been allocated for the first two project phases running to 2029. This is divided equally between private capital (€70m) and public funding (€70m). Lower Saxony is providing €21m, making up just under 30% of the public funding portion. The agreement immediately kicks off site assessments in Lower Saxony, establishes milestone-based funding, and accelerates local permitting processes.
HTS tape is a specialised metallic tape capable of carrying electrical currents with zero resistance. It generates the intense magnetic fields required to trap ultra-hot plasma inside fusion reactors. Proxima Fusion will act as the anchor customer, requiring 20,000 kilometres of tape for its planned Alpha demonstration device and 40,000 kilometres for its Stellaris commercial power plant. Beyond nuclear fusion, the facility’s manufacturing capacity will support medical imaging (MRI), advanced propulsion systems, and high-performance electricity grids.
Proxima Fusion is deploying a two-stage roadmap aiming to bring commercial stellarator fusion to Europe. Completion of the Stellarator Model Coil (SMC) is targeted for late 2027. This critical hardware milestone will test and de-risk high-field HTS magnet technology.
The operational target for Alpha, the net-energy-gain fusion demonstrator, is 2031. This is to be built in Garching near Munich in partnership with the Free State of Bavaria and the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP). It aims to achieve continuous operation with a net energy gain.
Commissioning of Stellaris, the world’s first commercial stellarator fusion power plant, is planned for later in the 2030s at the site of a former nuclear fission station in Gundremmingen. It will build on Alpha’s results to reliably supply electricity directly to the high-performance grid.
Because industrial HTS tape production is historically concentrated in China and Japan, Proxima Fusion is establishing global bridges to bring manufacturing capabilities to Europe. This includes active negotiation with several international technology partners to license and transfer established, high-yield HTS manufacturing expertise directly into the new Lower Saxony plant.
Proxima has mobilised a broader industrial ecosystem consisting of over 50 European and international industrial partners to co-develop the supply chain, advanced materials, and automated systems required for the facility. In parallel, partnerships with the energy utility giant RWE and the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics ensure that the facility’s output perfectly integrates with future power plant dimensions and engineering tolerances.
The planned plant will enable Germany to retain manufacturing expertise and economic value, make its European supply chains more resilient and translate its world-leading stellarator research into an internationally significant industry. By bringing together materials expertise, production processes, quality assurance, skilled workers and suppliers, it would create a critical upstream manufacturing capability with applications across a wide range of sectors while reducing dependence on overseas suppliers.
The Alpha Alliance, launched in February, is an industrial consortium of over 50 European and international companies and public research institutions spearheaded by Proxima Fusion. Its core mission is to act as a coordinated manufacturing, engineering, and supply chain engine to build Alpha. The production of fusion-grade HTS tape adds a key component to this industrial base and closes a decisive gap in Europe’s fusion supply chain.
“We are making Lower Saxony a pioneer in European HTS manufacturing,” said Olaf Lies, Minister-President of Lower Saxony. “This will not only support Germany’s ambitious fusion-energy goals, but also bring advanced manufacturing, new economic value, highly skilled jobs and technological expertise to our state, with the potential to generate positive innovation effects across many other industries. Lower Saxony will become, quite literally, a magnet for a new critical technology.”
Dr Francesco Sciortino, co-founder and CEO of Proxima Fusion, noted: “HTS tape is one of the critical technologies needed to scale fusion rapidly at an industrial level. Alpha and Stellaris will create the demand required to build this manufacturing expertise locally. Lower Saxony has the industrial base, energy expertise and political determination to turn a supply-chain dependency into an enduring strategic strength for Germany and Europe.”
Munich-based Proxima Fusion is a spin off from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics IPP. In March, Proxima signed a MOU with the Free State of Bavaria, RWE, and IPP outlining a roadmap to commercial fusion in Europe. In July, the company raised €411m in a financing round, bringing the company’s valuation to €2.4bn.
