Freemelt joins Proxima Fusion’s Alpha Alliance for tungsten fusion parts
The Swedish EB-PBF specialist will develop plasma-facing tungsten components for Alpha, a week after Proxima Fusion closed a €411 million funding round
Freemelt signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Proxima Fusion GmbH, the German stellarator developer, and became a member of the Alpha Alliance, a group of industrial companies and research institutes supporting the design of Alpha, Proxima Fusion’s stellarator-based fusion demonstrator.
Under the agreement, Freemelt provides its Electron Beam Powder Bed Fusion (EB-PBF) technology and tungsten manufacturing expertise, with initial work focused on designing, manufacturing, and validating plasma-facing components, including tungsten parts for Alpha’s divertor and first wall. The MoU sets a framework for the partnership; Freemelt and Proxima Fusion said they intend to negotiate specific agreements covering future projects and deliveries as the collaboration moves through design studies, prototyping, testing, and eventual industrialization.
The Alpha and the alliance
Alpha is Proxima Fusion’s demonstration stellarator, designed to achieve net energy gain, a Q factor above 1, from a stellarator for the first time. The company describes the machine as an industrial bridge between fusion research and commercial deployment, built to validate the manufacturing methods, materials, and high-performance systems that will define later stellarator power plants; it is set to be constructed in Germany.
The Alpha Alliance, in turn, exists to do more than deliver that single machine: the group’s purpose is to build the supply chains and industrial capabilities needed for future commercial stellarators, including its planned first-of-a-kind power plant, Stellaris. The Alliance builds on Europe’s existing fusion engineering base, which includes the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator and ITER, and has members in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Japan, Sweden, and the UK, providing expertise in superconducting technology, coil manufacturing, power systems, cryogenics, advanced materials, vacuum engineering, diagnostics, and precision mechanical structures.
Freemelt’s nuclear AM strategy
Freemelt enters the alliance with an established track record in fusion-related tungsten work rather than as a new entrant to the sector. The company has previously worked with the UK Atomic Energy Authority and currently leads a feasibility study for Fusion for Energy, the EU body responsible for Europe’s contribution to ITER, to qualify tungsten as a fusion-grade material. Freemelt has also secured orders from TAE Technologies tied to fusion applications.
“Fusion is a strategic focus area for Freemelt, and we are pleased to join the Alpha Alliance together with Proxima Fusion and the other partners. This collaboration further validates Freemelt’s position within the fusion ecosystem and provides an opportunity to contribute our expertise in tungsten manufacturing to one of Europe’s most ambitious fusion programs,” said Daniel Gidlund, CEO of Freemelt. “We are pleased to welcome Freemelt to the Alpha Alliance. Freemelt’s expertise in additive manufacturing and tungsten components will be an important contribution to the development of Alpha and our shared ambition to accelerate the path towards commercial fusion energy,” said Lucio Milanese, co-founder and Chief External Affairs Officer at Proxima Fusion.
