THEVA Leads the HTS4Fusion Project to Develop a New Fusion Conductor
The German superconductor maker THEVA has launched HTS4Fusion, a three-year research project to develop a new high-temperature superconductor conductor for fusion magnets. THEVA leads the work with the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics and the Technical University of Munich, funded by the German federal government. At its centre is a new conductor concept the partners call JANUS.
THEVA leads a government-funded fusion conductor project
On 17 December 2024, THEVA announced that it would lead HTS4Fusion, a project to develop high-temperature superconductor (HTS) materials for compact fusion systems. The three-year effort begins in 2025 and is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. THEVA’s partners are the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) and the Technical University of Munich.
The pairing is deliberate. THEVA makes the tape, while the IPP is one of the world’s leading plasma-physics laboratories, so the project links a manufacturer directly to the researchers defining what a fusion magnet actually needs.
The JANUS conductor targets high magnetic fields
The project’s technical centrepiece is the JANUS composite HTS conductor, described as a new conductor concept that combines advanced materials with strong superconducting performance in high magnetic fields.
Field strength is the reason fusion developers moved to HTS in the first place. REBCO tape carries large currents in fields beyond what older superconductors survive, which is what allows a smaller, higher-field magnet. Our materials guide explains that advantage, and a conductor designed specifically for fusion field conditions is a step toward magnets built for commercial machines rather than adapted from research ones.
THEVA is one of a small group of tape makers
THEVA is among a handful of REBCO tape manufacturers worldwide, and it takes a different manufacturing route from most competitors. Leading a national fusion-conductor project positions the company in the fastest-growing part of the superconductor market, which where the tape goes sizes against the other applications.