Representatives from politics, business and science have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish a laser-based nuclear fusion demonstration power plant by 2035 at the former Biblis NPP in the German state of Hesse. The MOU was signed during the first Round Table on Nuclear Fusion, held at the Biblis plant.
Signatories included the Hessian state government led by Minister-President Boris Rhein, Minister of Economic Affairs Kaweh Mansoori, Minister of Research Timon Gremmels, fusion company Focused Energy, the Technical University (TU) of Darmstadt, the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt as well as Schott and other industrial companies.
The MOU commits to pursuing commercial fusion energy in Hesse, establishing the state as a focus for research and the development of laser-based nuclear fusion. A demonstration plant and subsequent power plant will be funded at the Biblis site. A state-of-the-art fusion technology centre will be established in Hesse to promote research, development and commercial applications.
The two-unit Biblis plant (A&B), each with two cooling towers, was shut down in March 2011 in response to the Fukushima Daiichi accident. It has been undergoing demolition since 2017. The operation to dismantle the two reactors is expected to take about 15 years. Two of the cooling towers were demolished in 2023. Dismantling of the two reactors is expected to take about 15 years.
“We need an open-technology energy mix because the sun does not always shine and the wind does not blow constantly. We can only secure our prosperity if energy is available at all times and remains affordable for everyone,” said Hesse Prime Minister Boris Rhein. “Nuclear fusion can be the game changer and bring the decisive breakthrough.” He added: “We want to establish Hesse as the leading location for cutting-edge research and development of laser-based nuclear fusion and pave the way for commercial fusion energy. For this purpose, a demonstration plant and later a power plant are to be funded at the Biblis site.”
He said leading research for innovative forms of energy must take place again in Germany. “It is a very good signal that the future federal government wants to promote fusion research more and is pursuing the goal of building the world’s first fusion reactor in Germany.” In March 2024, a new funding programme for nuclear fusion research was announced by Germany’s Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger aimed at paving the way for the first fusion power plant to be constructed in Germany by 2040.
Rhein said he was “firmly convinced that we can make nuclear fusion the energy supplier of the future” and that “Biblis is to become a nucleus for energy supply”. The Hesse government is providing up to €20m ($21.7m) for research into nuclear fusion this year in addition to state investments, private funds and grants from federal and EU programmes.
Hesse Deputy Prime Minister Kaweh Mansoori noted: “With companies such as Focused Energy in Darmstadt and the excellent scientific institutions on site, we have actors who set standards in international fusion research. For Hesse there is a historic opportunity here, not only to develop a key technology, but also to produce it competitively. This is a crucial step to strengthen our innovative strength and independence at a time when international supply chains and energy imports are becoming increasingly uncertain. I am convinced that the energy industry and the industrial landscape in Hesse can be expanded to the future. To do this, we want to promote the development of a highly developed infrastructure and the creation of new jobs in research, development and industrial production.”
Timon Gremmels, HesseMinister for Science & Research, Art & Culture said fusion energy offers great long-term potential. “We want to establish Hesse as a leading location for cutting-edge research and the development of laser-based nuclear fusion. At the same time, we want to conduct research on short- and medium-term marketable renewable energies and storage technologies in order to become climate neutral by 2045.”
Markus Roth, co-founder of Focused Energy and Professor of Laser & Plasma Physics at TU Darmstadt said: “Germany now has a historic opportunity to become a leader in the industrialisation of fusion energy. With TU Darmstadt and Focused Energy, Hesse is already a world leader in laser fusion research and has everything in its hands to take the lead in the construction and operation of fusion power plants.”
Focused Energy was founded in 2021 as a technology spin-off of TU Darmstadt and National Energetics to commercialise fusion and is based in Germany and the US. Its approach to creating nuclear fusion power uses a focused proton beam to ignite millimetre-scale sphere deuterium/tritium fuel targets to create fusion reactions, which it says builds on the work achieved by the National Ignition Facility laser at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In 2024, Focused Energy received funding of €2.5m comprising €500,000 from state funds and€2m from the European Regional Development Fund.
In March 2024, a new funding programme for nuclear fusion research was announced by Germany’s Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger aimed at paving the way for the first fusion power plant to be constructed in Germany by 2040.
