German Fusion Startup Proxima Signs Two Japan Partnerships for Critical Reactor Components

Germany-based Proxima Fusion signed two memoranda of understanding with Japanese industrial partners in Tokyo on October 28, during German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's visit to Japan. The agreements are intended to help the company secure components for its planned stellarator fusion machines.

One agreement, with Japanese manufacturer Fujikura, covers high-temperature superconducting tape used in the magnets that confine hot plasma. The companies will evaluate the technical and commercial feasibility of producing the tape in Lower Saxony, Germany. Proxima estimates it would need roughly 20,000 kilometres of tape for its planned Alpha demonstration machine and approximately 40,000 kilometres for each future Stellaris power plant.

A separate agreement with Kyoto Fusioneering expands work on gyrotrons, equipment that heats plasma with high-power microwaves, and technologies for handling fusion fuel. The Japanese company is also expected to contribute engineering expertise to Germany's Fusion Hubs initiative.

The agreements are cooperation frameworks, not binding factory construction orders or proof that commercial fusion generation is ready. Proxima targets its Alpha demonstrator for the early 2030s and a commercial Stellaris plant later in that decade. Those dates remain company objectives, not verified operating milestones.

Fusion developers must build specialised manufacturing capacity long before their machines can generate electricity. The October 28 agreements therefore mark progress in supplier planning, while substantial engineering, investment and technical milestones remain ahead.