Spain leads the design of Europe's first commercial fusion power plant

 

Gauss Fusion, the European company created with the aim of building the first commercial fusion power plant of the continent, has presented its Conceptual Design Report (CDR)This document of more than a thousand pages details the plan and conceptual design for the development of its GIGA plant, defining the roadmap for the fusion went from being a scientific goal to a commercial reality.

 

The report is the result of three years of work with the support of industrial partners from all over Europe, including the Spanish company I IDO, one of the founding partners. The CDR addresses all critical systems required for the construction of the first commercial fusion plant, from architecture and systems design to the safety framework, qualification strategy, and radioactive waste considerations.

 

Investment and Deadlines: The Merger in Mid-2040

 

The CDR not only focuses on the technical design, but also establishes an investment framework and construction timelines. The detailed analysis estimates a investment of between 15.000 and 18.000 million euros to build the first fusion reactor of this type. The goal is for the plant to be operational in mid 2040s.

 

Developed with partners from five countries, including Spain (with IDOM as one of its founding partners), the CDR reflects Gauss Fusion's vision of a "Eurofighter for fusion", a pan-European alliance to deliver large-scale fusion energy.

 

The Eurofighter for Fusion Alliance

 

The project is part of Gauss Fusion's vision of creating a "Eurofighter for fusion", an pan-European program designed to ensure the energy sovereignty of the continent. This alliance combines the industrial technical knowledge, national investments and supply chain capacity, structuring them in phases that allow for systematic risk management.

 

The collaboration brings together engineering and research leaders from several countries:

• Spain: With the participation of the founding partner I IDO in the advanced engineering design of fuel cycle elements, also seeking strategic collaboration with IFMIF-DONES.

• Italy: Working with ENEA and the Italian Consortium for Applied Superconductivity (ICAS), among others.

• France: Collaborating with Alsymex, Assystem and the CEA.

• Germany, : With prestigious partners such as Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP).

 

Gauss Fusion uses the concurrent engineering, a model that accelerates design by bringing together interdisciplinary teams working in parallel, an approach adopted from the aerospace industry to optimize costs and results in the initial phases.

 

Support and Commitment from Germany

 

The presentation of the CDR coincides with the recent announcement of the Action Plan for the Merger of Germany, endowed with 2.000 millones de eurosThis plan is the result of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition agreement in May 2025 and sets out Germany's ambition to build the world's first fusion power plant. Gauss Fusion's work will be shared with the Federal Government within the next ten days, placing it in a leading position in Europe.

 

Milena Roveda, CEO of Gauss Fusion, underlined the significance of the milestone: “Our Concept Design Report (CDR) is the culmination of three years of work to realize the promise of fusion at GIGA, a concept-level power plant design, credible and practical. In addition, it demonstrates that the European industry has the capabilities necessary to move from vision to engineering reality." He added: "The next step is to move from concept to detailed engineering, turning this design into an industrial project to create Europe’s first generation of fusion power plants.”

 

For its part, Frédérick Bordry, CTO of Gauss Fusion, emphasized the industrial challenges: “The Conceptual Design Report (CDR) addresses the toughest industrial challenges that stand between fusion science and commercial fusion energy. From the development of a closed fuel cycle to mastering the use of advanced superconducting magnets and materials capable of withstanding extreme thermal and neutron loads.” He stated that “Solving them will determine who leads the global fusion race and whether Europe guarantees the true energy sovereignty for future generations.”

 

Finally, Frank Laukien, Majority Shareholder and Non-Executive Chairman, concluded: “Our mission is simple, yet profound: to turn fusion into a practical and scalable source of clean and unlimited energyAchieving this will not only help to ensure the Europe's energy independence, but will also create a better, more sustainable world for future generations.”

 

The next phase of design will begin following the CDR's review by an independent panel in January 2026.