The European Race for Nuclear Fusion Heats Up: Proxima Fusion Calls on Energy Giants

The European startup Proxima Fusion is accelerating its journey towards the commercialization of nuclear fusion with the announcement of the creation of an Industrial Development Board (IDB), an organization that brings together managers and experts from the European energy, industrial, and technology sectors. Founded in 2023 as a spin-off from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) and led by Italian Francesco Sciortino, the company aims to strengthen its ability to turn fusion research into a scalable industrial supply chain.

The board includes Luc Rémont, former CEO of EDF and Schneider Electric, Michael Bolle, former CTO and CDO of Robert Bosch GmbH, Ann Mettler, former executive of the European Commission and European Vice President of Breakthrough Energy, and Erich Clementi, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of E.ON and former IBM executive.

According to Proxima Fusion, the new body will support the company in transitioning from research and development to large-scale industrial execution, as well as facilitating connections with European industrial partners and contributing to the construction of a continental ecosystem dedicated to fusion.

The company is developing reactors based on stellarator configuration, an alternative technology to traditional tokamaks used in many international projects. Stellarators use complex magnetic fields to stably confine plasma, aiming to reduce some operational challenges typical of tokamaks, such as the need to manage high currents in the plasma itself.

Proxima's roadmap includes the construction of Alpha, a demonstration stellarator designed to achieve a net energy gain in the early years of the next decade. Subsequently, Stellaris, identified by the company as the first next-generation commercial power plant, is anticipated in the second half of the 2030s.

The company asserts that the challenge now involves not just the scientific validation of fusion, but especially the ability to rapidly industrialize technologies, supply chains, and production processes. In this context, the expansion of the Alpha Alliance, a network of industrial partners that, according to Proxima, has already exceeded 50 member companies since its launch in early 2026, is also significant.

The strategy reflects an increasingly pronounced orientation towards creating a European fusion supply chain in a global context where the United States, China, and Europe are competing for leadership in future energy technologies.