Heike Freund from Marvel Fusion complains about the German fusion standstill in “So techt Deutschland”.

Heike Freund from Marvel Fusion
China and the USA are investing, Germany is stalling

October 18, 2023, 9:00 a.m

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Nuclear fusion can be the key to a clean and inexhaustible source of energy. But Germany is lagging behind in development, complains Heike Freund from Marvel Fusion. In “So techt Deutschland” she advocates for bolder investments.

Fusion energy is the opposite of nuclear fission: atomic nuclei are not split but fused. If everything works as desired, CO2-free electricity is created. “Germany has the scientific expertise for groundbreaking technologies such as nuclear fusion. What is missing are the political and financial framework,” warns Heike Freund. She is COO of Marvel Fusion. The Munich startup focuses on the development of a nuclear fusion power plant using laser technology.

The first demonstrator should be built by 2026 – in the USA, not in Germany, as Freund explains. The next step would be a prototype, “we would really like to build it in Germany.”

According to Freund, there are about 40 private-sector companies involved in nuclear fusion, “two-thirds of which are in the United States.” Just like Marvel Fusion, only five companies take a laser-based approach.

The merger manager is convinced that the technology will play a key role in energy supply as an almost unlimited and clean energy source. But while “China and the USA are pumping billions into nuclear fusion,” Germany is treading water, she says. In total, 90 percent of private capital for nuclear fusion was invested in the USA. “Europe and Germany have a lot of catching up to do so that we can ultimately commercialize the technologies here too,” is Freund’s wake-up call to politicians. “The next tech champions should come from Germany again.”