Germany’s Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR – Bundesministeriums für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt) has announced a funding decision for three new fusion power hubs. It is funding the hubs as part of the High-Tech Agenda Germany. Three hubs will now combine research and development in the areas of laser fusion, magnetic fusion and in the cross-cutting theme of fuel cycles and material development.
“Fusion has the enormous potential to secure the energy supply of the future – clean, safe and always available,” said Federal Minister for Research, Technology and Space Dorothee Bär. “Germany is excellently positioned in fusion research, has promising start-ups and can become a global pioneer. It has great value creation potential for Germany as a business and innovation location. Our goal is therefore clear: The first fusion power plant should be located in Germany. With these three merger hubs, we now combine entrepreneurial ambitions and scientific expertise. This will accelerate the development of new fusion technologies and ensure better transfer. The federal and state governments are working hand in hand to develop the hubs into strong locations for fusion research and technology in the long term.”
The “Hubs for Fusion” initiative distributes an initial €125m ($144m) in federal funding equally among three hubs. The overarching goal is to deploy the world’s first commercial fusion power plant in Germany by the 2040s.The full framework comprises the following locations and research initiatives: a magnetic fusion hub (Bavaria & Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania); a laser fusion hub (Western & Northern Germany); and a fuel cycle and materials hub (Southwestern Germany).
The magnetic fusion hub, STRIDE (Stellarator Technology & Research for Industrial Development) will specifically focus on stellarator technology. This builds directly on Germany’s world-leading scientific baseline from the Wendelstein 7-X research reactor in Greifswald. Its mandate is to translate complex plasma physics into scalable industrial designs. Teams will design and integrate core systems such as high-field superconducting magnets, plasma heating mechanisms, and reactor control software. It will be led jointly by the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) and startups Proxima Fusion and Gauss Fusion. Key locations are Garching and Gundremmingen (the planned former NPP site for the future Stellaris demonstrator power plant), both in Bavaria. It is backed by a €400m investment commitment from the state of Bavaria.
The laser fusion hub, VEGA (Vertically Integrated Ecosystem for Laser Fusion Applications) will focus on inertial confinement fusion powered by high-repetition-rate laser technology. Its mandate is to unify Germany’s existing domestic expertise in photonics, extreme optics, and laser component manufacturing. A heavy emphasis is placed on the precision engineering and automated manufacturing of the “targets” (tiny fuel pellets filled with hydrogen isotopes) that lasers compress to trigger fusion. It will be led by laser-fusion pioneers Marvel Fusion and Focused Energy. Key locations are the former NPP site in Biblis (Hesse), alongside research facilities in Hamburg, Schenefeld (Schleswig-Holstein), and partner institutes in Dresden (Saxony) and Rostock (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania).
The fuel cycle and materials hub (MAT-TRIx – Materials and Tritium Innovation Excellence) will focus on cross-cutting nuclear materials science and the tritium fuel cycle. It is mandated to solve the extreme engineering challenges common to both magnetic and laser fusion reactors. This includes designing breeding blankets (the reactor walls that capture heat and generate new fuel), processing volatile tritium gas safely, and testing new alloys that can withstand heavy neutron bombardment and intense thermal loads without degrading. It will be coordinated by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), with involvement from all active German fusion startups to ensure open access to findings. It will be centred in Karlsruhe (Baden-Württemberg), with cross-testing infrastructure being built out in Gundremmingen.
Funding for the hubs will begin in August 2026. The goal is the rapid development of governance that connects the relevant actors and activities. The first cooperative research and development projects will start shortly afterwards. The initial BMFTR of €125m will be supplemented by private investment and international partner countries collaborating with Germany on the project.
The development timeline for “Hubs for Fusion” consists of six successive expansion phases running from August 2026 to December 2029. Phase 1 – Governance & Joint Ecosystem Setup (late 2026) – will see the establishment of overarching legal and administrative structures; formal alignment between 34 initial academic and industrial partners; and launching of the structural frameworks for STRIDE, VEGA, and MAT-TRIx. The first equal tranches will be disbursed from the initial €125m federal fund.
Phase 2 – Technical Baselines & Site Mobilisation (early 2027) will see on-site preparation and setting technical requirements. Initial infrastructure will be setup at core locations such as Biblis and Garching. Technical baselines for laser components, optics, and superconducting magnets will be finalised.
Phase 3 – Procurement & Core Tech Integration (mid 2027) aims to order advanced equipment and integrate core technologies. BMFTR’s milestone-based financing mechanism will be deployed to match private venture capital infusions. Custom hardware for high-power lasers, target manufacturing, and fuel cycle testing loops will be sourced.
Phase 4 – Prototyping & Infrastructure Expansion (2028) aims for full-scale execution of hardware testing and subsystem building. This includes broadening the research scopes into operational prototypes; constructing dedicated laboratory modifications at KIT for tritium fuel cycles; and assessing plasma-facing materials under high thermal loads.
Phase 5 – Advanced Simulation & Parallel Testing (early 2029) aims for system-level cross-hub validation and monitoring. This includes integrating diagnostic and parallel monitoring systems across the three technical paths; optimising laser target design models at VEGA while executing benchmark plasma stability simulations for STRIDE.
Phase 6 – Pilot Integration & Commercial Handover (late 2029) will see final closeout of the initial roadmap to transition toward pilot power plant builds. This includes completing the phase-by-phase expansion funded by the initial federal allocation; final verification of component blueprints before transitioning to multi-billion-euro commercial construction frameworks geared toward operating a power plant by the 2040s.
State-level funding from Bavaria and Hesse acts as the critical operational accelerator across the six-phase roadmap. While the federal initial allocation of €125m provides uniform foundational capital across the hubs, the regional injections ensure localised infrastructure matches the ambitions of private partners.
The matching funds integrate into the timeline through phased allocations. In Phases 1&2 – structural integration (late 2026 – early 2027), Bavaria, under its High-Tech Agenda will align its €400m investment commitment with the state-backed agency Bayern Innovativ, which embeds directly into the governance of all three hubs during Phase 1. Hesse will use its state budget to unlock the first tranches of a broader €2bn federal allocation, securing the physical zone for the “Fusion Industrialisation Campus” at Biblis.
In Phases 3&4 – private capital and heavy equipment multipliers (2027 – 2028), Bavaria’s state matching funds will be tied to the federal milestone-based financing mechanism. In Phase 3, these funds will be triggered to co-finance specialised tooling for Proxima Fusion’s Alpha test reactor in Garching. Hesse’s state-backed infrastructure allowances will complement private venture capital. This includes matching the €206m Series A round raised by Focused Energy to support heavy hardware purchasing and target-manufacturing lines.
In Phases 5&6 – Pre-Commercial Scaling (2029), Bavarian state funding will shift toward site scaling, advancing logistics to transform a decommissioned nuclear facility in Gundremmingen into a site capable of hosting a commercial scale fusion plant. Hessian resources will scale up the Biblis site into a regional high-tech cluster, linking it directly to the complementary research campuses in northern Germany.
Bavaria’s Science Minister Markus Blume noted: “The three merger hubs combine individual site strength in a nationwide approach.… The hubs create a clever basic structure that can be quickly built upon. This means that our merger alliance is also achieving great success even before its first birthday. It is clear: Fusion is a joint effort – it succeeds through the cooperation of the federal and state governments and of science, industry and start-ups….Our Bavarian facilities are involved in all hubs….With its unique fusion ecosystem in the Munich area, Bavaria is and remains a central driving force in fusion research in Germany.”
Hesse’s Minister-President Boris Rhein said the BMFTR initiative will create the world’s first laser fusion plant in Hesse. “I am convinced that nuclear fusion can become the game changer in energy supply. The fusion boost in Biblis is a crucial step on our path to expanding Hesse into a leading location for cutting-edge research and development of laser-based nuclear fusion.”
