Proxima Fusion and the German state of Lower Saxony are planning to invest about €140 million in a large-scale facility for manufacturing high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tape, targeting the first two project phases through the end of 2029.
The memorandum of understanding, announced on September 9, 2026, calls for roughly equal public and private financing. Lower Saxony has committed €21 million toward the project, which is intended to expand European production of HTS tape for fusion magnets.
The €140 million is not a new funding round for Proxima Fusion. The company raised €411 million in July, taking its reported valuation to about €2.4 billion. The September figure refers specifically to the proposed manufacturing facility.
Proxima expects a large volume of HTS tape
HTS tape is used to manufacture the superconducting cables that form the magnets in Proxima’s stellarator designs. Those magnets generate the fields used to confine fusion plasma.
Proxima says industrial-scale HTS tape production is concentrated primarily in Asia. It estimates that Alpha, its planned fusion demonstration machine, will require about 20,000 kilometres of tape, while the proposed Stellaris power plant would require about 40,000 kilometres.
Together, the two projects would require roughly 60,000 kilometres of HTS tape.
Proxima already has a supply agreement with Japan’s Faraday Factory for HTS tape used in its Stellarator Model Coil. The proposed Lower Saxony facility would add a large-scale European source for the material rather than replace the reactor projects themselves.
The facility has not reached construction
The agreement covers development work including site assessment, funding arrangements, permitting support and discussions with industrial and research partners.
Proxima has not yet disclosed the facility’s final location, production capacity, construction start date or the technology partner expected to provide the core manufacturing process. The company said it is in discussions with several international partners.
The proposed financing model would divide the roughly €140 million investment equally between public and private sources. Lower Saxony’s €21 million contribution represents part of the planned public funding.
Proxima is developing a high-field stellarator architecture using high-temperature superconducting magnets. Its Stellarator Model Coil is intended to demonstrate the magnet technology before the company proceeds to larger fusion systems.
Alpha is planned as a demonstration machine targeted for the early 2030s, while Stellaris is the company’s proposed commercial fusion power plant. Proxima and RWE are examining the former Gundremmingen nuclear site in Bavaria as a potential location for Stellaris.
The Lower Saxony facility is separate from Alpha’s roughly €2 billion project budget. It is an upstream manufacturing project focused on supplying HTS tape for the magnets required by Proxima’s fusion programme.
Proxima Fusion’s announcement describes the proposed plant as a large-scale European facility for fusion-grade HTS tape, with the first two project phases planned through the end of 2029.
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