Proxima Fusion secures Japanese partnerships for reactor components. Wed 28 Oct 2026 · AP News Munich-based Proxima Fusion has signed two agreements with Japanese technology companies to develop essential components for its planned fusion reactors, extending its manufacturing partnerships as it prepares to build a demonstration machine in Germany. The memorandums of understanding, signed in Tokyo on Wednesday during German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's visit to Japan, cover superconducting materials and equipment for heating and fuelling plasma. Proxima will collaborate with Fujikura on high-temperature superconducting tape and with Kyoto Fusioneering on specialised reactor systems. The agreements are preliminary arrangements rather than binding purchase orders or commitments to construct manufacturing facilities. Financial terms and delivery schedules have not been disclosed, leaving the scale of any eventual procurement dependent on further negotiations and technical work. Under the Fujikura agreement, the companies will examine the feasibility of establishing a factory in the German state of Lower Saxony to manufacture high-temperature superconducting tape, known as HTS tape. The material is used to make powerful magnets that confine extremely hot plasma inside fusion machines. Proxima estimates that its Alpha demonstration stellarator will require approximately 20,000 kilometres of tape. Each subsequent Stellaris commercial power plant would need around 40,000 kilometres, making dependable manufacturing capacity central to its development plans. The collaboration follows Proxima's September memorandum of understanding with Lower Saxony concerning a large-scale European production facility. The proposed project's first two phases envisage investment of approximately €140 million through 2029, with public and private financing expected to contribute equally. The state has identified €21 million as its intended contribution. The latest Fujikura arrangement concerns feasibility work and does not establish that the proposed factory has secured final financing, regulatory approvals or a construction timetable. Fujikura already manufactures superconducting tape and supplies other fusion developers, giving it industrial experience in a material whose production requires demanding quality controls. Fujikura announced in September a separate long-term agreement to supply more than 10,000 kilometres of superconducting tape to US-based Commonwealth Fusion Systems for its planned ARC power plants. That contract also involves expansion of the Japanese manufacturer's production capacity. Proxima's second agreement brings Kyoto Fusioneering into work on gyrotrons, devices that generate high-power microwaves to heat plasma, and fuel-cycle technology used to manage the hydrogen isotopes required for fusion reactions. Both systems are essential to operating a reactor beyond the magnetic confinement stage. Kyoto Fusioneering is also expected to contribute technology to Germany's national Fusion Hubs programme, which was launched with an initial €125 million in research funding. The collaboration connects a Japanese supplier specialising in fusion engineering with Proxima's reactor development and Germany's broader industrial research effort. The company has experience developing plasma-heating equipment and integrated fuel-handling technologies. Its engineering activities include work on gyrotrons and experimental systems designed to test processes needed for future fusion plants. The agreement with Proxima does not itself constitute a confirmed equipment delivery. Proxima develops stellarators, a type of fusion device that uses carefully shaped magnetic fields to hold plasma in place. Its approach differs from the tokamak configuration pursued by several other fusion developers, although both depend on advanced magnets and systems capable of sustaining demanding operating conditions. The company's Alpha demonstrator is intended to operate in the early 2030s and test whether its stellarator design can achieve net energy gain from fusion. Its Stellaris concept is intended as a subsequent electricity-producing plant at Gundremmingen, the site of a former nuclear power station in Bavaria. Proxima raised €411 million in July to support its development programme. The company emerged from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in 2023 and has assembled partnerships with engineering and manufacturing businesses as it moves towards constructing its first major machine. Neither the Alpha timetable nor the commercial ambitions establish that fusion electricity production has been demonstrated at an economically viable scale. Substantial engineering, testing and regulatory work remains before a commercial plant can supply electricity to the grid. The company's manufacturing strategy also reflects the substantial quantities of specialised materials required for stellarator construction. Superconducting tape must meet stringent performance specifications, including its ability to carry large electrical currents while exposed to strong magnetic fields and extremely low temperatures. Fujikura and Kyoto Fusioneering were already listed among participants in Proxima's Alpha Alliance, an industrial network bringing together companies with expertise in materials, components and reactor engineering. The new memorandums identify more specific areas for cooperation within that wider group. Follow Arabian Post. Select Arabian Post as your preferred source on Google and MSN News for trusted business news and Arab politics and updates. Notice an issue? Arabian Post strives to deliver the most accurate and reliable information to its readers. 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Proxima Fusion signs two Japanese deals to build its fusion supply chain. The Munich startup will work with Fujikura on superconducting tape and with Kyoto Fusioneering on plasma heating. October 28, 2026 - 6:30 am Building a fusion power plant takes more than getting the physics right. It also means securing thousands of kilometres of specialised materials and the equipment needed to heat and fuel the plasma, years before the machine is ready to run. Munich-based Proxima Fusion is working on that supply chain through two new agreements with Japanese companies. The memorandums of understanding were signed in Tokyo on Wednesday, during German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's visit to Japan. One agreement, with cable and optical fibre manufacturer Fujikura, covers high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tape. The companies will study the feasibility of building a factory in Lower Saxony, Germany, to produce it. The second, with Kyoto Fusioneering, covers equipment for heating and fuelling the plasma inside a fusion machine. Neither agreement is a firm order or a commitment to build. But together, they show how early fusion developers must secure critical components if they want to move from experimental machines to power plants. Proxima is developing stellarators, which use twisted magnetic fields to confine plasma heated to extreme temperatures. The magnets rely on HTS tape, a material that carries electricity without resistance when cooled and can operate in very strong magnetic fields. The company expects to need around 20,000 kilometres of tape for Alpha, its planned test machine, due in the early 2030s. Each commercial Stellaris power plant that follows would require about 40,000 kilometres, the company said. Fujikura is already supplying the fusion industry. Last month, US company Commonwealth Fusion Systems ordered more than 10,000 kilometres of tape from the Japanese manufacturer, Khaleej Times reported. Kyoto Fusioneering will work with Proxima on gyrotrons, which use powerful microwaves to heat plasma, as well as the fuel cycle that manages the hydrogen fuel used in fusion reactions. The Japanese company will also bring its technology to Germany's national Fusion Hubs programme, launched by the research ministry this year with €125 million in initial funding. "The global race to fusion will be won in factories and supply chains," said Francesco Sciortino, Proxima's CEO and co-founder. Germany wants to host the world's first fusion power plant, and Proxima is one of the companies at the centre of that ambition. Spun out of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, the startup raised €411 million in July at a valuation of €2.4 billion, according to the institute. It employs around 200 people. The agreements also reflect a broader European push to build strategic technology and manufacturing capacity closer to home. Infineon is investing €1.1 billion in a chip plant in Austria, while access to electricity has become a major constraint for European AI data centres. For Proxima, the task now is to turn these preliminary agreements into a reliable supply chain. Its first test machine is still years away, but the industrial groundwork has to start well before then. Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.

Proxima Fusion and Kyoto Fusioneering join forces to build critical technologies for commercial fusion power. A Memorandum of Understanding signed in Tokyo during Chancellor Merz's visit to Japan covers critical fusion technologies such as plasma heating and the fusion fuel cycle. TOKYO, JAPAN, October 28, 2026 / EINPresswire.com / - Proxima Fusion, Europe's leading stellarator fusion company, and Kyoto Fusioneering, a leading fusion technology provider headquartered in Japan, have today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to expand their cooperation on critical technologies needed to build and operate commercial fusion power plants, strengthening the industrial supply chain behind Germany's ambition to become a global leader in fusion energy. Under the MoU, the two companies will continue and expand joint work on next-generation gyrotrons for plasma heating and on fuel cycle technologies. Kyoto Fusioneering will also contribute its technologies and engineering expertise to the commercialisation and industrial deployment of fusion energy in Germany, including within the national Fusion Hubs initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space's (BMFTR). Building a new industry, with Germany at its centre The German federal government has set the goal of building the world's first fusion power plant in Germany. Turning that ambition into reality depends on secure, industrial-scale supply chains for components that, in many cases, do not yet exist at scale anywhere in the world. Building on Proxima's existing partnerships across the supply chain, including for high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets, the agreement with Kyoto Fusioneering adds key building blocks of that supply chain: the systems that heat and fuel the plasma. The agreement brings together Japan's long-standing expertise in fusion engineering with Germany's world-leading stellarator research and industrial capabilities. It also strengthens industrial ties between the two countries as governments and companies worldwide race to turn fusion science into a new source of firm, dispatchable and clean energy. The partnership will support Proxima's roadmap towards Alpha, its demonstration stellarator planned for the early 2030s, and Stellaris, its first commercial fusion power plant. Dr. Francesco Sciortino, Co-Founder and CEO of Proxima Fusion, said: "The global race to fusion will be won in factories and supply chains. Japan has spent decades building world-class fusion engineering capabilities; Germany has the leading stellarator engineering in the world and knows how to industrialize. In working closely with Kyoto Fusioneering and Fujikura, we are building a new industry together, one that makes both our countries more secure. Japanese partners choosing to work with Germany is a direct result of the strong backing fusion enjoys from the German government and the European Union, as well as our determination to apply world-leading technology to the world's increasing energy demands and climate challenge." Kiyoshi Seko, Representative Director, President and COO, Kyoto Fusioneering, said: " Germany is approaching fusion not only as a future source of energy, but as a pillar of its High-Tech Agenda to build national prosperity through advanced technology. Manufacturing and engineering are at the heart of that vision, and they are also at the heart of what Kyoto Fusioneering does. Through our cooperation with Proxima Fusion, we will bring our state of the art plasma heating technologies to one of the most ambitious stellarator programmes in the world, and help turn fusion into a real industry in Germany." During the Chancellor's visit, Kyoto Fusioneering hosted Proxima Fusion at its Tokyo Research Center. About Proxima Fusion Proxima Fusion is Europe's leading stellarator company and the first spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. The company is developing commercial fusion power plants based on the QI-HTS stellarator concept, building on the scientific breakthroughs of the Wendelstein 7-X programme. With Alpha, Proxima is developing a net-energy fusion demonstrator targeted for the early 2030s, paving the way for Stellaris, the world's first commercial stellarator fusion power plant later that decade. This ambition is supported by the Alpha Alliance, a consortium of more than 50 industrial partners, and a distinguished Industrial Development Board. Headquartered in Munich, with offices in Zurich and Oxford, Proxima employs around 200 people across engineering, science and operations. About Kyoto Fusioneering Kyoto Fusioneering is the world's premier fusion technology and integrated systems developer. It delivers technologies and engineering services for plasma heating, tritium fuel cycle, and tritium breeding blanket and thermal cycle systems that are essential to advanced fusion programmes worldwide, regardless of confinement approach. Kyoto Fusioneering operates globally across Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and Canada. Visit Asia Pacific Herald at kyotofusioneering.com. Media contacts Proxima Fusion: Maria Dantz, Head of Communications [email protected] Kyoto Fusioneering: Kohei Yamamoto, Head of Communications [email protected] Antonella Scimemi Burlington PR Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. Asia Pacific Herald do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. 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