German States Forge Fusion Alliance

Last week, six German states, Bavaria, Hamburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, and Schleswig-Holstein, signed an agreement to jointly advance nuclear fusion research and work towards the construction of a commercial fusion reactor in Germany. The alliance aims to pool scientific expertise, train a specialized workforce, and link existing research infrastructures. It aligns with Germany’s national agenda, signaling a coordinated push to make fusion a viable part of the country’s future energy mix.

This regional alliance is part of a broader national strategy elevating fusion as a critical technology. In 2025, the German government’s Hightech Agenda identified fusion energy as a top innovation priority. Key federal actions are timed to support this vision: a long-term Fusion Action Plan is due by the end of 2025, which will chart the path toward a fusion power plant in Germany, followed by a detailed fusion R&D roadmap by 2026.

The government also plans to establish dedicated innovation hubs for magnetic and laser fusion research, backed by new funding programs. Notably, Germany intends to ensure fusion facilities are regulated outside the strict nuclear laws that govern fission plants. It’s a policy choice meant to streamline development, since treating fusion like conventional nuclear power would impose regulations that industry experts argue are unnecessary.

Germany’s pro-fusion pivot is striking given that it phased out nuclear fission and shut down its last fission reactors in 2023. Fusion’s promise of safe energy, with far less radioactive waste than fission and zero CO₂ emissions, has garnered broad political support as a long-term climate solution. Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s governing coalition even wrote the goal of building “the world’s first fusion reactor” into their agreement. Still, officials temper this enthusiasm with realism: fusion remains in the experimental stage, and neither Germany nor Europe counts on fusion to meet its 2045-2050 climate neutrality targets.

For private fusion companies, the alliance and federal support signal that more public funding and infrastructure will be available to fusion ventures in Germany. Indeed, the German government has pledged roughly €2.4 billion through 2029 to support fusion R&D and pilot projects. 

Several German-based startups stand to benefit. For example, Focused Energy, a U.S.-German startup working on laser-driven fusion, has partnered with utility RWE and the state of Hesse to pursue a fusion pilot plant at a shuttered nuclear fission site by 2035. Similarly, in Bavaria, Marvel Fusion is developing laser fusion technology, while in Munich, Proxima Fusion (a spin-off from the W7-X program) is tackling magnetic confinement; notably, Proxima’s team aims to build a demo reactor by 2031. The new six-state alliance should reinforce these endeavors by fostering collaboration (and potentially co-funding) across regional research centers and industry partners.

From a U.S. perspective, the rise of a well-funded German fusion ecosystem could intensify competition. German startups, buoyed by local support, may become rivals in the quest to bring pilot plants online and attract top talent. It’s telling that Focused Energy’s CEO, referring to Germany’s commitment, remarked that the “seriousness of the federal government in Germany towards pursuing fusion… is two orders of magnitude higher than it has been in the U.S.” While perhaps hyperbolic, this statement underscores a sentiment that Europe (and especially Germany now) is moving assertively to match or outpace U.S. efforts.

At the same time, greater investment in fusion abroad can benefit the private sector globally. A surge in German and EU funding could drive advances in enabling technologies like high-efficiency lasers, superconducting magnets, and plasma-facing materials, which private developers everywhere need. Focused Energy’s planned pilot will reportedly use solid-state lasers 30 times more efficient than those at the U.S. NIF lab, an example of how rapidly these enabling technologies are evolving.

Publicly funded research institutions stand to play a pivotal role in this fusion alliance. Germany brings significant scientific assets to the table: for example, the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator in Greifswald is a world-leading fusion experiment exploring steady-state plasma confinement. In southwestern Germany, the GSI Helmholtz Center in Darmstadt operates high-powered lasers relevant to inertial fusion, and Munich’s universities host advanced laser fusion research. 

By uniting six states, the alliance aims to better integrate these labs and their specialized facilities, fostering a national network of fusion research that transcends single-site projects. We can expect increased funding and coordination for public labs, potentially an upgrade or expanded mission for W7-X, and new facilities as part of the planned magnetic and laser fusion hubs.

The Saxon science minister, Sebastian Gemkow, emphasized that Saxony (home to research centers in Dresden, etc.) is among the “leading locations” in fields like physics, materials, and energy technology, and that networks like Saxfusion already link research institutions with companies beyond state borders. This new alliance will strengthen such linkages, ensuring that breakthroughs in university or institute labs can more readily translate into industrial prototypes.

For national fusion programs worldwide, including U.S. national labs, Germany’s model offers clear lessons. It illustrates the value of aligning regional initiatives with a clear national strategy: by comparison, the U.S. fusion effort, while robust, is spread across federal labs (DOE labs like LLNL, PPPL, etc.), private ventures, and academic research without a unifying “all-hands” alliance. If Germany succeeds in translating its alliance into tangible demonstration projects, it could set a new standard for how nations organize to commercialize fusion energy.