Fusion energy can be a long-term source for clean energy, but we need to prepare for the future now.
Fusion energy cannot satisfy our acute need for green energy and it cannot replace a rapid energy transition to renewable energies. However, it can play an important role in meeting our ever-growing future energy needs. It can deliver locally produced, base-load capable and CO2-free energy, independent of geological and climatic conditions, in a comparatively compact setup.
Advancing fusion research closer to commercialisation
Fusion research has long been regarded as fundamental research. However, technological breakthroughs like new and extremely powerful supercomputers, advances in the development of artificial intelligence (AI), new laser diodes, and high-temperature superconductors have brought fusion much closer to commercial application. In recent years, these technological leaps have also motivated private investors to invest in the fusion industry for the first time, in the context of an ever-growing demand for energy.
Worldwide, more than 45 fusion start-ups, including several in Germany, have raised a total of more than $7bn in private investment.1 The start-ups are pursuing a very broad range of technological approaches, and each start-up has its own unique approach. The variety of technologies being explored by all the start-ups increases the chances of finding a commercial approach quickly. However, at this stage of development, it is not possible to predict which technologies will ultimately reach the market. Therefore, focusing on one or a few technologies cannot be scientifically justified today and is not recommended.2
What is SPRIND?
SPRIND – the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation in Germany – is a federal government company tasked with identifying, developing, financing, and scaling groundbreaking innovations. Inspired by DARPA in the US, its main goal is to provide agile and proactive support, both financially and structurally.
Fusion energy, if done right, will be one of the major breakthrough innovations of the future and part of the solution to satisfy our hunger for energy. Society will be enabled to power mobility and industry, but also a circular economy or new ways of desalinating seawater. For Germany and Europe, this can result in additional economic success. It can be a key technology for which Europe can provide large parts of the supply chain with industrial sectors in which Europe is strong.
SPRIND is therefore supporting companies that are tackling the challenge of building a commercially viable fusion plant and at the same time is a spokesman in favour of supporting developments in the supply chain.
Supporting fusion innovation
So far, SPRIND has established the subsidiary Pulsed Light Technologies (PLT), with the aim of developing laser systems for laser-driven inertial fusion that are built in such a way that they can later support commercially viable power plant operation. The developments are carried out together with the co-operation partners Focused Energy and Marvel Fusion, who pursue different approaches and will need different laser systems ultimately. But both are united by the fact that currently available systems exhibit too low efficiency and too low repetition rate. By financing this work with €90m, SPRIND supports these German start-ups to further de-risk their technical developments and attract private investors.
The other large cluster of fusion approaches – magnetic fusion – has a strong research history in Germany and Europe must also be enabled to further de-risk key technologies and answer central engineering questions before a clear path towards a fusion power plant can be evaluated.
Actions needed to accelerate the fusion energy sector
But if this technology is to succeed on a timescale to meaningfully contribute to a future energy mix, governments must create the right conditions right now. Apart from financial support and incentives, private industries and investors need reliable and predictable framework conditions to act upon. Minimum requirements for political action and primarily concern regulations and the organisation of training in universities and companies.
Reliable and risk-appropriate regulatory frameworks need to be put in place. There are few hazards associated with fusion power plants, and they are significantly less risky than fission power plants. By establishing safety guidelines now that are tailored to the hazard and risk profile of fusion power plants, a predictable and trustworthy environment can be created for start-ups and their investors facilitating technological roadmaps and the assessment of economic viability. Adopting overly strict regulations from the regulation of fission power plants would drive up the cost of fusion power plants. The United States and the United Kingdom are already adapting their regulatory frameworks – Europe needs to follow.
A crucial point will be the organisation and detailed structuring of public financial support. The schedule and cost plan for the ITER experimental fusion reactor has been revised several times in recent years. This shows how a potentially excellent project can be slowed down by complex frameworks, competitive bidding requirements, ineffective collaboration, political diplomacy and a lack of market orientation that go hand in hand with purely government funding and long-term research agendas.
Driven by their private investors, fusion start-ups are following a rigorous milestone-based roadmap and are very focused on the commercial viability of their fusion power plants. In contrast to fully government-funded projects, they can adapt their strategy very flexibly and quickly to new findings, technologies and market developments. A clever design of private-public partnerships can leverage the combined advantages of private drive and flexibility, as well as the broad expertise of public research and financial support.
Start-ups, as well as relevant industry in the supply chain, should be supported through milestone-based public-private partnership models. This ensures that high-risk projects with high potential returns are supported, but also that approaches that prove unsuitable can be weeded out to limit financial damage.
Developing a stable fusion economy
Over the last few decades, research has laid an excellent foundation for the commercial exploitation of fusion. However, the development of commercial power plants will not be the result of research, but must be driven by industry and start-ups. This process of development towards a fusion energy economy needs to be supported structurally and through public-private partnerships, and flanked by research. As it is not yet clear which fusion concepts will actually reach the market and be viable in the long term, flexible milestone-based programmes are the way to go. The most important, however, is to start acting now.
References
- Fusion Industry Association Report 2024
- F Metzler and J Messinger 2023, The Spectrum of Nuclear Energy Innovation (June 1, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4531998
Please note, this article will also appear in the 20th edition of our quarterly publication.
