Effort to bring sun like energy to earth: Hope of cheap electricity from Germany’s ‘dumb machine’

Munich/London. Can electricity become so cheap and unlimited in future that energy crisis becomes history? To achieve this goal, a German company is working on a new technology, which its CEO Francesco Sciortino has described as a ‘dumb machine’ – that is, a machine that, once built, is as easy as a microwave.

In fact, this technology is based on nuclear fusion – the same process that produces energy within the sun. In this, hydrogen particles fuse together and release a huge amount of energy. But it is extremely difficult to replicate this on Earth, because it requires the fuel to transform into plasma state at extreme temperatures, which is a big challenge to control.

New path different from Tokamak
Most fusion projects so far have been based on tokamak technology, which is a donut-shaped machine. But Proxima Fusion is working on a different design—the Stellarator. It is certainly more complex, but is considered more stable and effective in the long run.

Biggest Challenge: Magnets and cost
The biggest limitation of stellarator technology is its complex magnets, which have to be made in extremely precise shapes. Initial manufacturing is expensive and difficult, but the company believes costs can be reduced once mass production begins. Proxima Fusion plans to manufacture these magnets on a large scale by 2028-29.

Europe’s growth and future
This project incorporates decades of experience from institutions like the Max Planck Institute, which could give Europe an edge in this race. At the same time, experts associated with STEP Project say that the real question is not the technology, but which system will be able to generate electricity practically.

If this experiment is successful, it could revolutionize the energy sector—where clean, cheap, and almost unlimited electricity would be available.