German start-up Focused Energy, based in Darmstadt, plans to turn the former Biblis nuclear power plant, owned by energy company RWE, into the site of the world’s first commercial laser fusion power plant. The existing infrastructure, such as the grid connection and the buildings, makes the site especially attractive.
The company raised $240 million in spring 2026, the largest-ever first funding round in the fusion sector, and RWE invested €60 million. The plan envisages a first demonstrator within five years, a pilot plant after ten and a commercially competitive plant after fifteen.
The future plant is expected to produce almost one gigawatt of electricity, enough for two million homes. Vice-president Ulrich Sigel considers the conditions at Biblis to be excellent.
The challenges remain considerable: critics point out that the technology is not yet mature and is expensive, and issues such as the fuel cycle and scaling laboratory results up to large scale still need to be resolved.
