Proxima Fusion and Kyoto Fusioneering Join Forces to Build Critical Technologies for Commercial Fusion Power

A Memorandum of Understanding signed in Tokyo during Chancellor Merz's visit to Japan covers critical fusion technologies such as plasma heating and the fusion fuel cycle.

‍Tokyo / Munich, 28 October 2026 – Proxima Fusion, Europe's leading stellarator fusion company, and Kyoto Fusioneering, a leading fusion technology provider headquartered in Japan, have today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to expand their cooperation on critical technologies needed to build and operate commercial fusion power plants, strengthening the industrial supply chain behind Germany's ambition to become a global leader in fusion energy. 

Under the MoU, the two companies will continue and expand joint work on next-generation gyrotrons for plasma heating and on fuel cycle technologies. Kyoto Fusioneering will also contribute its technologies and engineering expertise to the commercialization and industrial deployment of fusion energy in Germany, including within the national Fusion Hubs initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space’s (BMFTR). 

Building a new industry, with Germany at its centre

The German federal government has set the goal of building the world's first fusion power plant in Germany. Turning that ambition into reality depends on secure, industrial-scale supply chains for components that, in many cases, do not yet exist at scale anywhere in the world. Building on Proxima's existing partnerships across the supply chain, including for high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets, the agreement with Kyoto Fusioneering adds key building blocks of that supply chain: the systems that heat and fuel the plasma.

The agreement brings together Japan's long-standing expertise in fusion engineering with Germany's world-leading stellarator research and industrial capabilities. It also strengthens industrial ties between the two countries as governments and companies worldwide race to turn fusion science into a new source of firm, dispatchable and clean energy.

The partnership will support Proxima's roadmap towards Alpha, its demonstration stellarator planned for the early 2030s, and Stellaris, its first commercial fusion power plant.

Dr. Francesco Sciortino, Co-Founder and CEO of Proxima Fusion, said: "The global race to fusion will be won in factories and supply chains. Japan has spent decades building world-class fusion engineering capabilities; Germany has the leading stellarator engineering in the world and knows how to industrialize. In working closely with Kyoto Fusioneering, we are building a new industry together, one that makes both our countries more secure. Japanese partners choosing to work with Germany is a direct result of the strong backing fusion enjoys from the German government and the European Union, as well as our determination to apply world-leading technology to the world’s increasing energy demands and climate challenge."

Kiyoshi Seko, Representative Director, President and COO, Kyoto Fusioneering, said: "Germany is approaching fusion not only as a future source of energy, but as a pillar of its High-Tech Agenda to build national prosperity through advanced technology. Manufacturing and engineering are at the heart of that vision, and they are also at the heart of what Kyoto Fusioneering does. Through our cooperation with Proxima Fusion, we will bring our state of the art plasma heating.. technologies to one of the most ambitious stellarator programs in the world, and help turn fusion into a real industry in Germany."

During the Chancellor's visit, Kyoto Fusioneering hosted Proxima Fusion at its Tokyo Research Center.

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About Proxima Fusion 

Proxima Fusion is Europe’s leading stellarator company and the first spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. The company is developing commercial fusion power plants based on the QI-HTS stellarator concept, building on the scientific breakthroughs of the Wendelstein 7-X programme. With Alpha, Proxima is developing a net-energy fusion demonstrator targeted for the early 2030s, paving the way for Stellaris, the world’s first commercial stellarator fusion power plant later that decade. This ambition is supported by the Alpha Alliance, a consortium of more than 50 industrial partners, and a distinguished Industrial Development Board. Headquartered in Munich, with offices in Zurich and Oxford, Proxima employs around 200 people across engineering, science and operations.

About Kyoto Fusioneering

Kyoto Fusioneering is the world’s premier fusion technology and integrated systems developer. It delivers technologies and engineering services for plasma heating, tritium fuel cycle, and tritium breeding blanket and thermal cycle systems that are essential to advanced fusion programmes worldwide, regardless of confinement approach. Kyoto Fusioneering operates globally across Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and Canada. Visit us at kyotofusioneering.com.

Media contacts 

Proxima Fusion: Maria Dantz, Head of Communications mdantz@proximafusion.com 

Kyoto Fusioneering: Kohei Yamamoto, Head of Communications media@kyotofusioneering.com

FAQ

What is a gyrotron?
A gyrotron is a high-power source of microwaves. In a fusion machine, those microwaves are used to heat the plasma to the extreme temperatures needed for fusion.

Why does a fusion power plant need plasma heating?
Hydrogen nuclei only fuse when the plasma is hotter than the core of the Sun. Heating systems bring the plasma to those temperatures and help keep it there, which makes them essential to a working power plant.

What is the fusion fuel cycle?
The fuel cycle covers how a fusion power plant supplies, handles and recycles its fuel, so that the plant can run continuously. Together with plasma heating, it is one of the key building blocks of a commercial plant.