Munich-based Proxima Fusion is developing a QI-HTS stellarator and has raised more than €650 million. It plans to build its Alpha demonstration stellarator in the early 2030s. That machine is expected to need about 20,000 kilometers of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tape, a key material for its high-field magnets. The supply-chain question is whether planned demand can become dependable production in Europe.
Proxima signed two Japanese MoUs in Tokyo
On October 28, 2026, Proxima signed memoranda of understanding with Fujikura and Kyoto Fusioneering in Tokyo. The agreements were signed during German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s visit to Japan, according to Proxima’s announcement. Fujikura and Proxima will explore establishing an HTS tape manufacturing facility in Germany. The Kyoto Fusioneering agreement covers plasma heating and fusion fuel-cycle technologies, according to the company’s announcement.
The arrangements address different parts of Proxima’s plans. Fujikura brings HTS technology and manufacturing know-how; Kyoto Fusioneering’s work concerns other fusion-system technologies. Separately, Faraday Factory Japan has agreed to deliver HTS tape to Proxima. That delivery agreement and the Fujikura MoU should not be conflated: one covers tape supply, while the other explores a German manufacturing base.
The Fujikura MoU is a route to investigate production, not evidence that a plant or its output is secured.
The tape requirement could support a European production case
Proxima anticipates needing about 20,000 kilometers of tape for Alpha and around 40,000 kilometers for each planned Stellaris power plant. The Fujikura agreement says the partners aim to combine Fujikura’s manufacturing expertise with Proxima’s long-term demand and technical requirements to develop a European supply chain.
Those figures give a potential factory a prospective market and a set of requirements to work toward. They do not establish that production can meet the necessary volume, quality or schedule. The distinction matters because HTS tape is a key material for the compact, high-field magnets used in stellarators. A forecast of demand can help justify investment; it cannot demonstrate that manufacturing is ready.
Germany’s stated ambition to build the world’s first fusion power plant adds an industrial-policy rationale. Tech.eu reported that the partnerships are intended to strengthen German industrial capabilities for fusion. The available record, however, contains no commitment to subsidize a Fujikura-Proxima facility or fast-track its approvals.
Japan’s role is a hedge, not proof of decoupling
The geopolitical rationale is real, but narrower than some accounts suggest. In comments reported by CNBC, Proxima described Europe as resource-poor and dependent on China, and called competition for technological supremacy a zero-sum game. That statement identifies a strategic concern. It does not establish that China currently controls Proxima’s HTS tape supply or that the Japanese agreements have displaced Chinese sources.
The partnership instead pairs European demand and a possible production location with Japanese manufacturing expertise. If a German facility advances from exploration to operation, it could add a European source and broaden supply options. The first step is converting the MoU into a facility plan. The next is demonstrating that its tape meets Proxima’s technical requirements at the required scale and timing. Until those steps happen, the supply-chain risk remains.
This is why the agreements matter without proving a geopolitical break. A local factory could reduce reliance on distant supply for a critical material, but the initial production base would draw on Japanese expertise. The near-term strategy is diversification through partnership, not industrial self-sufficiency. Whether it becomes a durable European capability depends on production results, not the nationality of the signatories.
Production capacity will test the 2030s schedule
Proxima targets Alpha for the early 2030s and power-plant deployment in the 2030s. The tape requirement links those timelines to a manufacturing task that is still at the proposal stage. A German facility could give the company and the wider European fusion sector another supply route, while a delivery agreement with Faraday Factory Japan provides a separate source of tape.
The Proxima Fusion HTS tape plan becomes schedule-relevant when the partners demonstrate production at the required volume and quality. For now, the agreements establish a path from projected demand to potential manufacturing. They do not show that the 20,000 kilometers required for Alpha are already secured.
