April 11, 2024
Source: Energy & Management Powernews
20 million euros for fusion energy research
The Munich-based start-up Proxima Fusion has successfully completed a seed financing round worth 20 million euros. The goal: unlimited clean energy
Recruit top-class engineers and physicists and also further develop "key technologies in the hardware and software sector": This is what Munich-based Proxima Fusion GmbH has set out to do and has raised capital of 20 million euros to do so. Investors include the Swiss lead investor Redalpine, the DeepTech & Climate Fund, the Max Planck Foundation and Bayern Kapital. This was revealed in a press release.
The aim of Proxima Fusion, which was founded in April 2023 as a spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP), is to design a functional fusion plant and - in the long term - to develop, build and operate fusion power plants. A team of around 30 scientists and engineers from leading technology companies and research institutions, including Google, Tesla, TUM, Harvard and MIT, are working on this in Munich.
The so-called stellarator technology will be used. This is a machine that uses magnetic fields to control the plasma required for fusion. Compared to other potential fusion technologies, stellarators require less energy, are more flexible in design and more effective in controlling the plasma, which is why they are considered the most promising option, according to the press release. Proxima Fusion can draw on more than 60 years of development expertise at IPP and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and also has access to Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), the world's largest stellarator experimental facility.
The company has already developed "StarFinder", a cloud-based stellarator optimization and simulation environment that also makes greater use of AI-supported design and engineering. The focus in the area of research and development will include high-temperature superconducting magnets to further improve stellarator performance.
In addition, Proxima Fusion plans to work with existing energy suppliers and energy infrastructure providers to gain faster and more effective access to the energy market.
Author: Katia Meyer-Tien
Accessibility
Language
