Why the Merger Needs Silos—and Where They Need to Be Opened

The development of fusion technologies is not a linear path from scientific breakthrough to power plant. It consists of lengthy development cycles, competing approaches, and technical challenges that must first be openly addressed. This is precisely why the three technology hubs for magnetic fusion, laser fusion, and materials and the fuel cycle need a reliable domestic environment. Research institutions, startups, and industry partners must be able to discuss uncertainties, failed attempts, and bottlenecks there without every unanswered question being immediately interpreted publicly as a failure of fusion. This is particularly crucial for young companies: a technically necessary discussion of unresolved problems must not become a risk to ongoing investor negotiations.

Safe spaces for concrete development work

These hubs are not abstract repositories of knowledge. The STRIDE magnetic fusion hub, for example, focuses on cryogenic testing capabilities for superconducting components, additive manufacturing of complex stellarator components, remote maintenance and robotics, as well as high-performance microwave heating systems. The laser fusion hub VEGA is working, among other things, on long-lasting optics for high-power lasers, standardized testing procedures, diagnostics and metrology, as well as the scalable production and characterization of targets. MAT-TRIx focuses on neutron-resistant structural materials, breeder blankets, tritium cycles, and the supply of lithium-6. This requires test infrastructures capable of qualifying materials and components under fusion-relevant conditions.

These tasks require specialization, confidentiality, and continuity. Not every technical discussion belongs in the public sphere; not every stage of development is ready for the market; and not every insight can be shared without restriction among competing companies. A silo can therefore be productive if it consolidates responsibility, fosters trust, and accelerates decision-making.

The bottlenecks begin where technology must become industry

Silos become problematic when developments are not linked in a timely manner to the prerequisites for their industrial implementation. A component that works in the lab does not yet answer the question of how it can be manufactured reliably, economically, and in the required quantities. For future fusion power plants, it is not enough to bring individual technologies to maturity. At the same time, manufacturing capacities, supply chains, skilled workers, testing facilities, sites, and approval processes must be established.

This is immediately evident from the development topics addressed by the hubs. High-power lasers require not only better optics and higher repetition rates, but also sufficient production capacities for diodes, laser glass, coatings, and precision components. Superconducting magnet systems require not only advances in materials and design but also scalable supply chains for high-temperature superconductors, cryogenic technology, and specialized manufacturing. With regard to breeder blankets and tritium cycles, in addition to scientific questions, there are also issues concerning qualified manufacturing processes, lithium-6 supply, regulatory approvals, and industrially viable facilities.

The shortage of skilled workers also extends far beyond the next generation of academics. Technicians, welders, coating specialists, and skilled workers in metalworking, assembly, quality assurance, radiation protection, cryogenics, plant operation, and maintenance are equally needed. At the latest when moving on to test facilities, demonstrators, and power plant sites, additional bottlenecks arise: suitable land, grid connection, permits, industrial infrastructure, and regional acceptance. Site selection is therefore not a downstream administrative issue, but an early stage of technology transfer.

Bayern Innovativ as the gatekeeper between the hubs

This is precisely where we at Bayern Innovativ come in. In the STRIDE Hub, we participate as a funded partner through a subcontract with the hub management. In VEGA and MAT-TRIx, we are involved as an associated partner. This allows us to identify early on which technological needs, interfaces, and scaling barriers are emerging. At the same time, we can identify commonalities and handoff points between the hubs without compromising the necessary confidentiality within the individual development spaces. We bring the specialized development spaces of the Fusion initiative together with companies, research institutions, investors, regions, and political stakeholders. This is not about opening every silo indiscriminately. It’s about opening the right gates at the right time: making needs visible, finding suitable partners, and guiding mature approaches through validation, scaling, and industrial application.

The next steps require the right tools. One of these is the F.A.S.T. transfer initiative of the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space. It is designed to accelerate the transformation of promising research results in the key technologies of the High-Tech Agenda for Germany into spin-offs, scaling, and market-ready innovations. Thematically focused transfer hubs are intended to bring together economic demand and scientific supply nationwide. For Fusion, this offers the opportunity to view technical maturity not in isolation, but to link it to application, production, and the market from the very beginning.

Our role is to translate these opportunities into concrete technology transfer work. We connect the needs of the technology hubs with industrial expertise, companies, and investors. Conversely, we feed back requirements from power plant construction, manufacturing, operations, and the market into research and development. Where suitable solutions exist, they must be tested and further developed. Where they are lacking, clearly defined research and development tasks are needed instead of general areas of inquiry.

This cannot be achieved from a single location. The necessary capabilities are spread across Germany. That is why we are building a nationwide network alliance together with economic development agencies, innovation agencies, and technology transfer intermediaries. This alliance channels needs from the hubs into regional industrial ecosystems, draws the attention of companies outside the field to new opportunities, and brings suitable partners together. Small and medium-sized suppliers, in particular, often already possess relevant manufacturing, materials, automation, or testing technologies. What they lack are concrete requirements, identifiable customers, and reliable timelines.

Politics, too, can become a silo

However, technical limitations are not the only major barriers to technology transfer. Fusion technologies are not bound by departmental jurisdictions or national borders. Research funding, economic policy, regional development, energy policy, regulation, and securing a skilled workforce are often addressed separately. This creates gaps precisely at the points where research is supposed to be translated into industrial implementation.

The federal and state governments do not necessarily have to share the same interests or responsibilities. However, they should align their activities with common technological milestones. If a demonstrator requires a specific test infrastructure, production capacity, or site decision by a clear deadline, funding mechanisms, approval processes, and economic policy instruments must not be coordinated only after the fact. Technology roadmaps therefore need a political and administrative counterpart.

Above all, however, fusion requires reliability that extends beyond legislative terms. Building test infrastructure, supply chains, a skilled workforce, and production capacity takes longer than a single funding period or political term. Companies will only invest in facilities, personnel, and new business areas if technological goals, government priorities, and funding pathways are sustainable in the long term. Otherwise, a familiar pattern looms: Germany takes a strong position in research and early-stage technology development but fails to establish a permanently competitive industrial base. In the case of solar and battery technologies, we have seen how value creation and production capacities emerged elsewhere despite the knowledge available here. When it comes to fusion, we must not end up once again with outstanding research but empty hands.

Silos with checkpoints instead of borders without barriers

Fusion needs both: protected spaces for focused development and open pathways to application. Technology hubs must be able to address technical challenges confidentially and take responsibility for their roadmaps. Whether these efforts result in fusion power plants, however, is determined at the checkpoints leading to industrial scaling, supply chains, skilled workers, locations, and political decisions. That is precisely where our role lies: translating needs, organizing transitions, and bringing the right partners together—with the nationwide network alliance, suitable tools such as F.A.S.T., and a clear focus on industrial application.