SPRIND CREATES INFRASTRUCTURE FOR LASER-DRIVEN FUSION
Founding of Pulsed Light Technologies
At a meeting on March 7th, the SPRIND Supervisory Board gave its approval for the founding of Pulsed Light Technologies GmbH (German LLC). The wholly-owned subsidiary of SPRIND GmbH will develop infrastructure for the generation of energy from laser-driven fusion.
“A working and economically-operated fusion power plant would be a truly disruptive innovation,” says Rafael Laguna, Director of the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIND). “Fusion could provide a relatively clean way of generating continuous power independent of local geologic factors and without relying on limited resources. In view of the goal to phase out the use of fossil fuels and the simultaneous rising demand for electrical energy, it makes sense for us to tap into public funds to accelerate the development of this technology.”
Pulsed Light Technologies is working on fusion energy issues that need to be solved, but it does not interfere with start-ups' core developments or IP concerning fusion power plants. It expressly does not work on any physical fusion processes. The planned developments in laser technology may also lead to significant advances in other applications, such as in materials studies with high-intensity neutron beams. Licensing regulations will enable the results to be used for other, future applications.
“Like all SPRIND subsidiaries, the GmbH will apply for a loan from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research parallel to its establishment,” explains Dr. Antonia Schmalz, Managing Director of Pulsed Light Technologies GmbH. “Our plans call for investing up to 90 million euros in the technology over the next five years.”
The planned infrastructure focuses primarily on laser systems, but necessary diagnostics, optics, as well as key robotics and mechatronic elements, like aspects of a target injector, are also key subjects. Another subject for Pulsed Light Technologies will be the provision of computing power for complex and elaborate plasma simulations.
Developments will be conducted in collaboration with and in support of laser fusion start-ups based in Germany. These currently include Marvel Fusion (Munich) and Focused Energy (Darmstadt). The aim is to work towards creating products that fusion start-ups need to continue their developments but which are not being developed by the free market because of the current lack of demand.
Both start-ups are pursuing specifically different approaches, which in turn place different demands on infrastructure. Nevertheless, there are significant synergies that Pulsed Light Technologies hopes to enhance. The new SPRIND subsidiary is intended to relieve resource burdens on these, and potentially other cooperation partners, so that they can concentrate on further developing their core IP.
Bringing complex technology for generating energy to market takes immense investments. By providing the fundamentals and infrastructure, Pulsed Light Technologies supports all market participants so that laser-driven fusion can be utilized more quickly – for the benefit of the planet and everyone on it.
