German start-up unveils fusion blueprint

Germany-based start-up Gauss Fusion has unveiled its Conceptual Design Report (CDR) – a conceptual blueprint for the development of its GIGA fusion power plant – detailing how fusion can move from scientific research to commercial reality by 2045.

The CDR, developed over three years with support from industrial partners from across Europe, comprises over 1,000 pages of technical detail. The report addresses all critical systems required to build the first fusion power plant – from overall architecture, design basis and design concept, to safety framework, qualification strategy, system engineering, lifecycle operations and radioactive waste considerations, among others.

Gauss Fusion, founded in 2022 in Garching bei München, is a collaborative venture between companies from Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. In addition, Gauss Fusion cooperates with leading European research institutes.

In February 2023, Gauss Fusion completed a founders’ pre-seed financing round with €8m ($9.2m) in initial capital. In 2024, Gauss received €10m in funding from the German government for the further development of magnetic technology, as part of a broader public-private investment aimed at consolidating European leadership in the field.

Gauss is focused on commercialising magnetic confinement fusion power plants based on a stellarator configuration. According to Gauss Fusion CEO Milena Roveda, the decision to embrace the stellarator concept is based mainly on the lower cost of electricity, resulting from the stellarator’s higher reliability and its intrinsic steady state capability.

The CDR was presented just days after the German Government announced its €2bn Fusion Action Plan. This is based on Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition agreement in May 2025, outlining the government’s ambition for Germany to build the world’s first fusion power plant.

The CDR establishes a cost and schedule framework for the first commercial fusion power plant. The report defines long-term cost and schedule targets within an order-of-magnitude range, reflecting the uncertainties associated with first-of-a-kind technologies. It concludes that it will require €15-18bn to realise first-of-a-kind commercial fusion reactor by the mid-2040s (2025 estimate).

The report also crystallises Gauss Fusion’s vision of a ‘Eurofighter for Fusion’ – a pan-European programme that combines industrial know-how, national investments and supply-chain capacity to deliver energy sovereignty for Europe. This programme is structured into milestone-based phases that allow partners, shareholders, collaborators, and other stakeholders to manage programme performance systematically, reducing risk and increasing technology readiness.

“Our Conceptual Design Report is the culmination of three years of work to turn the promise of fusion into GIGA – a credible and practical concept-level power plant design,” said Gauss Fusion CEO Milena Roveda. “It demonstrates that Europe’s industry has the capabilities needed to move from vision to engineering reality.”

She added: “The CDR brings together the know-how of hundreds of specialists across Europe and proves that the technologies, materials and supply chains required for fusion are within reach. The next step is to advance from concept to detailed engineering – turning this design into an industrial blueprint for Europe’s first generation of fusion power plants.”

Gauss’s shareholders include: the Malacalza Family in Italy; Alcen in France; IDOM in Spain; and in Germany RI Research Instruments and strategic partner Bruker EAS.

The project brings together leading European engineering and research partners. In Italy, Gauss is working with the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), and the Italian Consortium for Applied Superconductivity (ICAS). It is also partnering with SIMIC on general construction, and collaborating with ASG Superconductors, with support from the Malacalza Family.

In France, Gauss is working with Alsymex with support from Alcen, on manufacturing feasibility and prototype development. It is also partnering with Assystem across systems engineering; and collaborating with the Alternative Energies & Atomic Energy Commission (CEA – Commissariat à l’énergie Atomique et aux énergies Alternatives).

In Spain, Gauss is working with IDOM on complex engineering design of the wider fuel-cycle and targeting strategic collaboration with the IFMIF-DONES particle accelerator in Granada.

In Germany Gauss is working with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the Jülich Research Centre (FZJ), and the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP).

Besides partners, collaborators, and shareholders, the role of Germany’s Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR – Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt) has been critical in unlocking key enabling technologies for fusion through the implementation of public–private partnerships.

Gauss Fusion’s various collaboration schemes are set to be scaled up during the next design phase, planned to start after an independent panel’s review of the CDR in January 2026.

In June, Gauss announced the operational start-up of ‘phase two’ of its technology plan for the development of superconducting magnets for nuclear fusion reactors. This will involve the evolution of the first prototypes and the expansion of industrial and territorial partnerships. An ongoing study by the Technical University of Munich is also analysing European sites, including some in Italy, for the possible location of future plants.

Having completed the conceptual design of the plant systems between 2023 and 2025, Gauss Fusion is embarking on the technical design and engineering validation phase. This includes collaboration with ENEA and ICAS for the development of high temperature superconductor (HTS) cables, capable of operating in extreme magnetic field and temperature conditions. The first prototypes are currently being tested in ENEA’s laboratories.

With ICAS, Gauss is developing low-temperature superconductor (LTS) cables with an established technology that has already been adopted in various fusion and high-energy physics projects. HTS and LTS cables are not alternatives, but complementary solutions: LTS cables offer reliability and stability on already mature technologies, while HTS cables pave the way for a new generation of more efficient systems.

Dr Frank Laukien, co-founder and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Gauss Fusion has noted: “To develop a European magnetic fusion power plant – and not just a pilot or demonstration plant – by 2045 is an ambitious but realistic goal that we can achieve not only thanks to our advanced technology, but also through our public-private partnership approach. We expect synergies to emerge from our industrial organisational structure and cooperation with excellent scientists and institutes with substantial experience in magnetic fusion and plasma physics.”

Milena Roveda commented: “In a global context in which the US and China are investing significant resources to lead the energy revolution, Europe has the scientific and industrial excellence to play a leading role. We aim to build the first 1 GWe plant based on magnetic confinement fusion and deploy the first generation of fusion plants to meet Europe’s energy needs. It is crucial to act now in order not to risk being excluded from this crucial innovation.”

In a separate development, UK-based Tokamak Energy has signed a strategic collaboration with Gauss Fusion focused on shared ambition to advance transformative HTS magnets and accelerate commercial fusion technology. Tokamak Energy’s business division TE Magnetics has unrivalled expertise in HTS technology.

Warrick Matthews, Tokamak Energy CEO, said “This partnership combines Tokamak Energy’s innovative magnet technologies with Gauss Fusion’s extensive expertise in the industrialisation of fusion energy. Together, we are accelerating the path toward practical fusion energy solutions.”

Gauss’s Milena Roveda said: “Fusion is too big of a challenge for any single company or country to deliver alone. This is exactly the kind of pan-European alliance we need to pool our industrial know-how and strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy in clean energy. By working together on critical magnet technology, we are turning public commitment into tangible action and accelerating the path to the first generation of European fusion power plants.”

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