Proxima Fusion bets €140M on a critical fusion ingredient dominated by Asian suppliers

Proxima Fusion is investing €140 million in a €162.6 million factory to produce fusion-grade high-temperature superconducting tape. The move follows a €411 million funding round, which propelled the company to the top of the best-funded fusion startups. The factory will be partially funded by the state of Lower Saxony, chipping in €21 million. Proxima plans to use the HTS tape to generate powerful magnetic fields in its reactors. The startup's commercial power plant will need twice as much tape as its demonstration plant, which requires 20,000 kilometers of the material. Today, the majority of HTS tape is produced in China and Japan. The material has emerged as a key component in the development of fusion power. Fusion reactors require strong magnetic fields to contain plasma, and HTS tape enables smaller and more efficient designs. Other companies, such as Veir, are using HTS tape to boost the efficiency and power density of data centers. Proxima's commercial power plant will be supplied by the new factory, which will provide the startup with a critical component for its reactor design.