Thales and Marvel Fusion cooperate

Together, the two companies want to research how laser-based fusion can be used to generate energy.

The French conglomerate Thales is cooperating with the German fusion technology company Marvel Fusion and the Romanian company ELI-NP. The collaboration involves upgrading what it claims to be the most powerful laser system in the world. In Măgurele, Romania, the companies then want to conduct joint research into energy generation through laser-based fusion. Marvel Fusion's goal is to present the building blocks of commercial fusion technology within three years.

Marvel Fusion wants to contribute to the energy self-sufficiency of the European continent with its own fusion power plants. Instead of triggering fusion reactions through compression and externally applied heat, as is usually the case, the company relies on targeted particle acceleration using high-power lasers. In addition to ELI-NP, the company also has access to the CALA laser system in Munich. According to Marvel Fusion, it has raised 65 million euros to date. The company, which was founded in 2019, aims to build commercial power plants in the mid-2030s.

As part of the collaboration, French company Thales plans to install a new optical stretcher in the laser system, which is part of a process for which Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018. Mourou is a member of the Science and Technology Board of Marvel Fusion.