https://www.theengineer.co.uk/content/news/proxima-fusion-looks-to-take-stellarators-commercial/ The Engineer Menu The Engineer * Sectors Sectors Aerospace Civil & Structural Defence & Security Energy & Environment Medical & Healthcare Rail & Marine Automotive Communications Electronics Manufacturing Policy & Business Skills & Careers * News * In-Depth * Opinion * Supplier Network * Jobs * Magazine Magazine + Request Free Copy + Archive + Supplement Archive * Videos * Events * Search menu Search [ ] Search Nuclear Energy & environment Proxima Fusion looks to take stellarators commercial News 30 May 2023 Munich-based Proxima Fusion has secured EUR7m in pre-seed funding make stellarator fusion power plants a commercial reality. W7-X design W7-X design - IPP The first ever company to be spun out of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP), Proxima was founded by former scientists and engineers from MIT, Google-X and the IPP. Several of these researchers have been involved with the development of the IPP's Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), the world's most advanced stellarator. Related content * Sparking up the stellarator * Wendelstein 7-X fusion reactor comes online * Wendelstein stellarator begins upgrades after fusion success Using a complex set of electromagnets to confine super-hot plasma, stellarators are more technically challenging in some regards to the more widely used tokamak approach to fusion. However, if these challenges can be overcome, stellarators also offer advantages, operating in a steady state and managing excessive heat well. According to Proxima Fusion, the work carried out by the IPP since W7-X came online in 2015 has closed the gap between tokamaks and stellarators, with the latter now on a pathway to commercialisation. "Experimental progress from W7-X and recent advances in stellarator modelling have radically changed the picture," said Francesco Sciortino, co-founder and CEO of Proxima Fusion. "Stellarators can now remedy the key problems of tokamaks and truly scale up, radically improving the stability of the plasma and reaching high performance in steady state." [proxima] Proxima's fundraising was co-led by London-based Plural Platform and Munich-based UVC Partners, alongside Germany's High-Tech Grunderfonds (HTGF) and the Wilbe Group. The Munich startup says it aims to deploy a new high-performance stellarator in the coming years and its first fusion power plant within the 2030s. "Stellarators offer the most robust and clearest path to fusion energy," said Plural's co-founder Ian Hogarth. "The Proxima team has the energy and the speed that we need. They are ecosystem players, with a thrilling sense of ambition building on top of the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator - a masterpiece of German leadership. Europe needs the audacity of this team and their willpower to take on the fusion challenge." Fusion commercial fusion W7-X Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Related Articles Inside Japan's Large Helical Device (LHD) stellarator Energy & environment TAE Technologies claims new fusion first The Engineer News [132872_web] Energy & environment Fusion solution: more space for stellarators Stuart Nathan News [plasma_h_1] Energy & environment W 7-X fusion experiment marks first hydrogen plasma Stuart Nathan News Latest Comments November 1913: Flight - It'll never take off They didn't know it couldn't be done, so they did it. (Modified - or mangled - from someone's quote, but you get the idea ...) # Sally M. Chetwynd * 8 hours ago Lotus unveils the type 136 electric road bike PS20,000 for 37.5W? That little power is unlikely to be able to propel the rider, & is so little the rider's unlikely to even notice when its in use! I have an e-bike, it has 3 power modes & a... # ChegsOn2Wheels * 9 hours ago YASA axial-flux motor wins Dewar Trophy HGVs, LGVs (e.g. ambulances) and buses are still being made to an old, high-floor chassis design convention that should've been binned decades ago. ... # Dave2020 * 11 hours ago Guest blog: Scaling Automotive Innovation in the UK In many projects much of the cost and difficulty is defined up front, at the specification stage. Overspecification of a design can lock in manufacturing route and costs which despite heroic efforts... # Julian Spence * 21 hours ago Lotus unveils the type 136 electric road bike 300g motor at 125W/Kg means an output of 37.5W - ? How is that enough to give 3 hours of 'all electric' - or are we missing something ? # Evil Villain * 1 day ago [engineer-l] Legal * Terms & Conditions * Privacy Policy * Cookie Policy * Reuse permissions Information * Contact Us * Comment Guidelines * Advertise * Register for newsletters More * C2I Awards * Salary Survey * Digital Archive * The Student Engineer * Salary Calculator (c) Copyright 2023 Mark Allen Group | Registered in England No. 02120366