BMBF project by Proxima Fusion and IPP starts with joint workshop

Researchers from both partners met at the IPP in Greifswald on 18 June for the kick-off workshop.

The sub-project on magnetic fusion, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with around 10 million euros, is concerned with addressing fundamental questions relating to the concept of a stellarator power plant. The Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) is receiving almost four million euros from the BMBF for this, while the start-up company Proxima Fusion is being funded with almost six million euros.

More than 20 experts from Proxima Fusion and IPP took part in the all-day kick-off workshop on 18 June at the IPP in Greifswald. The initial aim was to gain an overview of the available tools, the simulation codes and the state of scientific knowledge and then to develop a joint project strategy.

IPP has concluded a cooperation agreement with Proxima Fusion for the conceptual work on a stellarator power plant. Further co-operation agreements exist with the European fusion company Gauss Fusion and with the American start-up Commonwealth Fusion Systems. All of these agreements include agreements on the confidentiality of work results and the handling of intellectual property.

In addition, IPP has signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) that provide the framework for cooperation with the US companies Stellarex and THEA Energy. Unlike the cooperation agreements described above, no confidentiality was agreed here. Collaboration within the framework of an MOU is comparable to the academic exchange that IPP maintains with research institutions worldwide.