Sweden’s Novatron Fusion Group has announced the launch of its Tau-E Breakthrough (TauEB) project, with almost €3m ($3.16m) in funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Pathfinder Programme. The project, undertaken in collaboration with Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology, the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), Netherlands-based EIT InnoEnergy and Ukraine’s Kharkiv Institute of Physics & Technology (KIPT) aims to revolutionise plasma confinement, which is essential to achieving commercially viable fusion energy.

The success of fusion power plants hinges on the quality of energy confinement, which must meet two essential criteria: stability and the ability to sustain plasma over time with minimal leakage. The TauEB project addresses this challenge by focusing on enhancing plasma confinement time (τE) by over hundred times.

Novatron Fusion CTO Jan Jäderberg said collaboration with global leaders strengthens the credibility and potential impact of the TauEB project. “We are now poised to demonstrate a truly scalable and cost-effective fusion reactor technology.”

Novatron Fusion, founded in 2019 and headquartered in Stockholm, is developing a stable mirror-machine fusion concept. Its technology aims to streamline the fusion process, reducing both capital and operational costs for future reactors. As well as EIT InnoEnergy, its financial supporters include Climentum Capital, , and Santander InnoEnergy Climate Fund.

The project involves integration of three physical confinement techniques:

  • Magnetic Confinement: Through the Novatron’s unique magnetic mirror design.
  • Ambipolar Plugging: An electrostatic plugging at the magnetic mirrors, achieved by creating an electric potential within the plasma.
  • Ponderomotive Confinement: Confinement of the plasma by an external electric radio-frequency field, using the ponderomotive force.

The combination of these techniques is expected to drastically improve confinement and also to make fusion power economically attractive by generating energy at a competitive Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE).

The project’s interdisciplinary team brings together expertise in magnetic confinement, plasma stability, radio-frequency plasma heating, and advanced diagnostics. Partners such as EIT InnoEnergy contribute commercialisation strategies to ensure a pathway to market for this technology.

Per Brunsell, Professor of Fusion Plasma Physics at KTH, said the Pathfinder Programme “is aimed at fostering radical innovations with high potential for real-world impact”. He added: “With Novatron Fusion Group’s groundbreaking approach to fusion, we’re bringing together an interdisciplinary team of world-class experts in fusion research and development. This unique collaboration will help drive the ongoing development of the novel fusion technology, positioning us to achieve major milestones in the quest for commercially viable fusion energy.”