Insider Brief
A U.S.-German startup wants to bring fusion energy to a long-idled nuclear site in Germany by 2035.
Focused Energy said Monday it signed a preliminary agreement with German utility RWE and the state of Hesse to build a laser-based fusion pilot plant at Biblis, a decommissioned nuclear fission facility shuttered after Berlin’s decision to abandon nuclear power, Reuters is reporting.
The project would be one of the first to test whether the promise of fusion—long touted as a clean, nearly limitless source of power—can be converted into a working plant on the grid.
The project “would be the beginning and the learning lesson towards building a supply chain for what would eventually be global deployment,” said Focused CEO Scott Mercer in an interview, as reported by Reuters.
Fusion, the process that powers stars, involves forcing two light atoms together under extreme pressure and heat to release energy. Scientists have pursued fusion power for decades as a potential alternative to fossil fuels and fission-based nuclear plants, without the long-lived radioactive waste or greenhouse gas emissions.
Germany’s conservative parties, which won the February election, have said they plan to establish a legal framework to support fusion technology across Europe. The proposed pilot at Biblis would place Germany in line with other countries racing to turn fusion from lab experiment into commercial reality.
The pilot plant is expected to cost between €5 billion and €7 billion ($5.4 billion to $7.6 billion), with the potential to generate 1 gigawatt of power, according to Mercer. That would be comparable to a typical large-scale nuclear plant. Future units, he said, could be built for far less.
The agreement between Focused, RWE, and Hesse is non-binding, but it includes shared interest in using the Biblis site, existing infrastructure, and fusion research funding.
“The seriousness of the federal government in Germany towards pursuing fusion as part of the energy mix is, frankly, two orders of magnitude higher than it has been in the U.S,” Mercer told Reuters.
The Biblis site, located in western Germany, was once home to the country’s oldest nuclear power station before being shut down following Germany’s post-Fukushima energy shift. While some in Germany continue to debate the decision to exit nuclear power, fusion is emerging as a politically palatable alternative.
RWE Confirms Role
RWE, Germany’s largest power producer, confirmed its role in the partnership but did not disclose any investment amount. It said it would provide infrastructure and operational know-how from its nuclear experience to support the fusion initiative. “We want to contribute by providing our infrastructure at the Biblis site and our experience as an operator of nuclear facilities to advance fusion technology in Germany,” the company said in a statement.
The state of Hesse has budgeted €20 million for fusion-related research and development. Focused said RWE had committed a small amount of money to the project, with more significant funding rounds to follow depending on project milestones.
Fusion projects still face significant scientific and engineering hurdles. While the U.S. National Ignition Facility achieved a scientific net energy gain from fusion reactions in 2022—getting more energy out of the reaction itself than went into it—true commercial viability requires engineering gain, where the entire system produces more energy than it consumes, including the lasers and containment systems.
Focused’s approach relies on solid-state lasers that Mercer said are 30 times more efficient than those used by the U.S. lab. The company believes this laser-driven method can scale more quickly than magnetic confinement methods, such as those pursued by ITER in France and other global projects.
Still, converting heat from fusion reactions into usable electricity and integrating it into the grid remains unresolved. Developing a supply chain for high-powered lasers, as well as handling the materials stress from repeated fusion reactions, are among the challenges engineers must overcome.
Implications For Fusion
The Biblis pilot, if built on time, would be among the first attempts to operate fusion technology at a scale that matters to national power grids. It also represents an unusual collaboration between a young fusion company, a legacy utility, and a regional government.
Fusion proponents argue that such public-private partnerships will be key to translating decades of laboratory research into commercial deployment. Focused’s bet is that Germany, with its mix of political support and technical infrastructure, will become one of the first test cases.
Germany’s move could also influence fusion policy across Europe. For now, the agreement at Biblis remains an early step for fusion enery — but one that puts another marker down in the international competition to turn fusion into a reliable part of the global energy mix.
