German government backs hub for laser fusion in Hesse and around European XFEL
The German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) today announced funding for a hub for laser fusion, with sites in Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein and Hesse. European XFEL will be at the heart of a fusion R&D campus Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein. This campus will serve as the center of German laser fusion research and development, with the clear goal of preparing for the construction of the world’s first commercial laser fusion power plant in Germany.
The German laser fusion companies Marvel Fusion and Focused Energy, co-founders and co-shareholders of the hub, are developing the campus together with European XFEL, DESY, HZDR, the University of Hamburg, Kiel University, and the University of Rostock, along with a broad network of additional scientific and industrial partners and with the support of the states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. The hub will encompass an additional site – the Fusion Industrialization Campus in Biblis, Hesse – and incorporate satellite locations across the full Fusion State Alliance (“Länderallianz”). The BMFTR is funding the hub under the “Hubs for Fusion” funding directive, which is part of the federal government’s Hightech Agenda.
The Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein campus focuses on laser physics, diagnostics, and materials research. European XFEL intends to expand its capabilities to enable precise measurement of laser-target interactions across a wide parameter range – a fundamental prerequisite for validating new ignition and compression concepts on the path to a fusion power plant. This infrastructure is unique in the world: the hub can draw on an established scientific base and decades of expertise from DESY in the development of high-power lasers.
Research relevant to fusion is already being carried out at the European XFEL at the existing HED-HIBEF scientific instrument. The HIBEF (Helmholtz International Beamline for Extreme Fields) consortium operates extremely powerful lasers there under the leadership of the Helmholtz Centre Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). Another partner in the Laser Fusion Hub will be the High Energy Density Institute (HEDI), which involves the University of Rostock.
The hub is led by Marvel Fusion and Focused Energy, together with the IFE Innovation Network e.V., an association yet to be formally established. A large number of scientific and industrial partners have expressed interest in joining – including 15 universities and research institutes, 13 industrial partners, and 3 technology transfer organizations. European XFEL, together with Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, will coordinate the establishment of the association.
Read more on the European XFEL website
Image: Fusion-relevant research is being conducted at the HED-HIBEF scientific instrument of European XFEL
Credit: European XFEL