A German start-up will build the world's first laser fusion power plant together with major industrial partners and universities. A physics professor from Darmstadt is behind the initiative. This is reported by the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Professor Markus Roth has great ambitions for the technology he is developing in the company Focused Energy. The company was founded in 2021 as an offshoot of the Technical University of Darmstadt south of Frankfurt. According to Roth, humanity is on the verge of realizing a new and efficient form of energy, where two hydrogen atoms fuse into one helium atom under the influence of extremely powerful lasers. The process releases large amounts of energy without CO2 emissions.
According to Roth, Germany has now overtaken the United States in developing the technology. The country is aiming to build the world's first laser fusion power plant in the small town of Biblis, where a former nuclear power plant has been decommissioned. Demonstration plants will be built first, but the plan is for a fully functional power plant to be ready by 2035. The focus is both on ensuring security of supply and creating jobs within advanced technology.
- American researchers almost look at Germany with envy because we have created a lead, says Professor Markus Roth, who is also co-founder and scientific director of Focused Energy.
The project is backed by major industrial partners such as Siemens Energy, RWE and Schott as well as research institutions such as TU Darmstadt and the so-called Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, a high-tech institute in Darmstadt that researches particle and nuclear physics and contributes knowledge about extreme energy processes, which is also used in the development of fusion technology.
But the technology also faces criticism. Especially because it is still uncertain when the first economically viable kilowatt-hours can be produced. Critics warn against perceiving the technology as a solution that is already ripe for the market, and point out that existing technologies such as solar and wind are accessible and cheap.
Roth emphasizes that fusion should not compete with renewable energy sources, but complement them in a high-tech society with a high energy demand. He also calls on European investors to take responsibility, as it has primarily been American private equity funds that have financed the project so far.
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