--- kind: sector slug: fusion title: Fusion pillar: energy-production status: live as_of: 2024-07-01 updated_at: 2024-07-01 canonical_url: https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/fusion/ json_url: https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/fusion.json license: CC BY 4.0 --- # Fusion > Post-ignition commercial fusion. Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Helion, and Zap racing to translate the 2022 NIF breakeven into a manufactured power plant. ITER — whose Magnet Cold Test Facility cooled its first coil to 4 K in June 2026 — is the public international megaproject backdrop, not a manufactured-energy / Wright's-Law player. **Pillar:** [Energy Production](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/energy-production) · **Status:** live · **As of:** 2024-07-01 ## Key claims - NIF's 1.5 MJ net-gain shot moved fusion from physics question to engineering problem, which is the event the private sector is now racing to commercialize. _(NIF Ignition Achievement)_ - With $7.1B cumulative private capital across 45 tracked companies, fusion is now a venture-funded engineering race rather than a purely public ITER-scale science program. - The Helion-Microsoft PPA targeting 2028 sets a hard commercial deadline that, if met, would mark fusion's first delivery of electrons to a paying customer. _(Helion-Microsoft PPA Announcement)_ ## Analysis Post-ignition commercial fusion. Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Helion, and Zap racing to translate the 2022 NIF breakeven into a manufactured power plant. ITER — whose Magnet Cold Test Facility cooled its first coil to 4 K in June 2026 — is the public international megaproject backdrop, not a manufactured-energy / Wright's-Law player. ### What it is: Pre-commercial firm-clean. Measurable progress. Fusion combines light atomic nuclei (deuterium + tritium, or deuterium + helium-3) into heavier ones, releasing energy. Multiple confinement strategies are in development: **magnetic confinement** (tokamaks, stellarators, spherical tokamaks, field-reversed configurations, magnetic mirrors), **inertial confinement** (laser, pulsed magnetic, Z-pinch), and various hybrids. The science is sound. The engineering is hard. The Fusion Industry Association tracks **45 companies globally with $7.1B cumulative private capital** end-FY24 (FIA 2024). The US accounts for ~75% of the funding + ~34 of the companies. **Lawrence Livermore National Lab's National Ignition Facility** achieved **1.5x net energy gain** (3.15 MJ output / 2.05 MJ input) December 11, 2023 — repeated four times since — demonstrating that fusion ignition is achievable, not power-plant economics. **Microsoft + Helion** signed the first commercial fusion PPA in May 2023 (20-year, 50 MW target, ops 2028). **DOE Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program** ($46M to 8 companies, May 2023) signaled federal interest at scale. Nothing on the US grid is fusion power yet. The economic story is "if these companies deliver, then" — and the if has substantial technology + supply-chain + radiation-containment + tritium-breeding + first-wall-materials risk. The thesis-relevant framing is that fusion is the future R&D wedge of Energy Production; the deliverables are still years out; the capital + corporate-PPA momentum is real. ### The crossover: Annotated as pre-commercial firm-clean. **Figure — Energy Production's two curves (manufactured falling vs extractive rising), with fusion annotated as pre-commercial.** Interactive chart and accessible data table: [/embed/fusion-two-curves](/embed/fusion-two-curves). ### Firm role (target): Targeting baseload firm-clean alongside nuclear + geothermal. **Figure — Fusion's target firm-clean role (85% capacity-factor target) alongside nuclear + geothermal.** Interactive chart and accessible data table: [/embed/fusion-firm-role](/embed/fusion-firm-role). ### Technology: Tokamaks, stellarators, FRC, ICF, pulsed-magnetic, hybrids. **Magnetic confinement** dominates the pipeline. **Commonwealth Fusion Systems** SPARC (high-field tokamak with HTS magnets; target Q>1 plasma 2027 + ARC power plant FOAK by 2030s). **Helion Energy** Polaris (pulsed field-reversed configuration; D-He3 fuel; target 50 MW grid output 2028). **TAE Technologies** Norman + Copernicus (field-reversed-config; p-B11 aneutronic fuel path). **Tokamak Energy** ST40 spherical tokamak. **Type One Energy** Infinity One stellarator. **Realta Fusion** tandem-mirror. **Inertial + alternative confinement**: **Focused Energy** + **Xcimer Energy** laser-ICF; **Pacific Fusion** pulsed magnetic ($900M Series A May 2024 — largest single fusion round); **Zap Energy** sheared-flow Z-pinch. Each pathway has a different physics-risk + engineering-risk profile. The hyperscaler capital pull (Microsoft-Helion, Google-CFS rumored) parallels the data-center demand thesis. ### Thesis role: The future firm-clean wedge. R&D thesis — not delivered. Fusion is positioned as the long-term firm-clean wedge: fuel-free (deuterium from seawater), no long-lived high-level waste (for most chemistries), no proliferation pathway (for D-He3 + p-B11). If commercialization happens, the role complements [nuclear](/sectors/nuclear-fission), [geothermal](/sectors/geothermal), and [hydro](/sectors/hydro) as 24/7 baseload. Until then, fusion's contribution to the thesis is capital signal (where hyperscaler PPAs go) and technical optionality (which chemistry reaches Q>1 commercially). [Hyperscaler demand](/sectors/data-centers) is the most concentrated capital source the sector has ever had. ### Policy drivers: DOE FES, Milestone-Based Program, NRC regulatory framework. **DOE Fusion Energy Sciences** is the federal R&D budget ($790M FY24); funds national-lab programs + competitive private-sector cost-shares. **Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program** ($46M to 8 companies, May 2023) is the COTS-style private-sector funding mechanism modeled on NASA. **NRC fusion regulatory framework** (final rule April 2023) classified fusion under Part 30 byproduct-materials regulation rather than Part 50 nuclear-reactor regulation — major regulatory clarification. **White House Bold Decadal Vision** (March 2022) targeted pilot-scale commercial fusion in the 2030s. In June 2026 that framework produced its first operating-license milestone. **Helion Energy** became the first company in the world to hold the licenses to operate a fusion power plant, after the **Washington State Department of Health** issued a Radioactive Materials License and a Radioactive Air Emissions License for its Orion plant in Malaga, WA (June 16, 2026). It is the clearest evidence yet that the Part 30 byproduct-materials pathway is a workable route to commercial fusion, not just a theoretical one. In adjacent federal news, **General Atomics** and the DOE began preconceptual design of a full-scale **Fusion Blanket Component Test Facility** (announced June 11, 2026), a first-of-its-kind facility to test the tritium-breeding blanket systems every fusion power plant will need. ## Data | indicator | value | goal (year) | as of | source | |---|---|---|---|---| | Cumulative private capital invested in fusion | 7.1 $B ⚠ stale | — | 2024-07-01 | Fusion Industry Association Global Fusion Industry 2024: $7.1B cumulative private capital end-FY24, up from $5.9B in 2023. 45 companies… | | Fusion companies tracked globally | 45 count ⚠ stale | — | 2024-07-01 | FIA Global Fusion Industry 2024: 45 companies tracked globally end-FY24, up from 33 in 2022. ~34 US-domiciled. | | NIF ignition record net energy gain | 1.5 MJ delta ⚠ stale | — | 2023-12-11 | NIF Ignition Achievement | | Microsoft Helion PPA target year | 2,028 year ⚠ stale | 2,028 year (2028) | 2023-05-10 | Helion-Microsoft PPA Announcement | | DOE Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program cost-share total | 46 $M ⚠ stale | — | 2023-05-31 | DOE Fusion Energy Sciences Milestone Program | ## Companies - **[Commonwealth Fusion Systems](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/commonwealth-fusion-systems)** (series_b) — MIT spinout developing compact high-field tokamak fusion reactors using high-temperature superconducting magnets, with SPARC under construction and ARC commercial plant planned for Virginia. - **[Focused Energy](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/focused-energy)** (rd) — US laser-inertial-confinement fusion developer (NIF-style). Direct-drive proton-boron path. Founded by NIF + Lawrence Livermore alumni. - **[Helion Energy](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/helion-energy)** (series_f) — Pulsed-power fusion company developing field-reversed-configuration reactors that generate electricity directly from fusion magnetic fields, with a Microsoft offtake for 50 MW by 2028 and Polaris prototype currently operating. - **[Pacific Fusion](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/pacific-fusion)** (rd) — US pulsed-magnetic fusion developer. $900M Series A May 2024 (Eric Schmidt + General Catalyst + Khosla); largest single fusion round on record. - **[Realta Fusion](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/realta-fusion)** (rd) — US tandem-mirror magnetic-fusion developer. WHAM (Wisconsin HTS Axisymmetric Mirror) demonstration. Pivot from older magnetic-mirror programs using modern HTS magnets. - **[TAE Technologies](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/tae-technologies)** (rd) — US field-reversed-configuration fusion developer. Norman + Copernicus + Da Vinci device series. Hydrogen-boron-11 ("p-B11") aneutronic fuel pathway. Largest cumulative private capital raised in fusion ($1.2B+). - **[Tokamak Energy](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/tokamak-energy)** (rd) — UK spherical-tokamak fusion developer. ST40 device achieved >100M C plasma 2022. High-temperature superconducting magnet program parallel to CFS. - **[Type One Energy](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/type-one-energy)** (rd) — US advanced-stellarator fusion developer. Infinity One stellarator design; partnership with Tennessee Valley Authority + Oak Ridge National Lab. $82.5M Series A 2024. - **[Xcimer Energy](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/xcimer-energy)** (rd) — US excimer-laser-inertial fusion developer. KrF excimer-laser-driven direct-drive ICF. $100M Series A 2024. - **[Zap Energy](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/zap-energy)** (series_d) — Sheared-flow Z-pinch fusion company spun out of University of Washington plasma research, now also developing small modular fission reactors using shared liquid-metal cooling and pulsed-power technology. ## FAQ ### What is fusion power and why isn't any of it on the grid yet? Fusion combines light atomic nuclei (such as deuterium + tritium, or deuterium + helium-3) into heavier ones, releasing energy, using confinement strategies like **magnetic** (tokamaks, stellarators) and **inertial** (laser, Z-pinch). As MECP frames it, the science is sound but the engineering is hard — nothing on the US grid is fusion power yet. The deliverables are still years out, carrying substantial technology, supply-chain, radiation-containment, tritium-breeding, and first-wall-materials risk. ### Didn't a lab already achieve fusion 'net energy gain'? Yes — Lawrence Livermore's **National Ignition Facility** achieved 1.5x net energy gain (3.15 MJ output from 2.05 MJ input) on December 11, 2023, and has repeated it four times since. But that result demonstrates fusion *ignition* is achievable, **not** power-plant economics. It's a physics milestone, not evidence that fusion can deliver electricity to the grid at cost. ### How much money has gone into fusion companies? The Fusion Industry Association tracks **45 companies globally with $7.1B cumulative private capital** as of end-FY24, with the US accounting for ~75% of funding and roughly 34 of the companies. The single largest round was **Pacific Fusion's** $900M Series A (May 2024). MECP treats this capital — especially concentrated hyperscaler money like the Microsoft-Helion PPA — as the sector's real signal, since the technology itself hasn't been delivered. ### What role is fusion supposed to play in clean energy if it works? MECP positions fusion as the long-term **firm-clean wedge**: fuel-free (deuterium from seawater), no long-lived high-level waste for most chemistries, and no proliferation pathway for D-He3 and p-B11 fuels. If commercialization happens, it would complement [nuclear](/sectors/nuclear-fission), [geothermal](/sectors/geothermal), and [hydro](/sectors/hydro) as 24/7 baseload, targeting an 85% capacity factor. Until then its contribution is capital signal and technical optionality — which chemistry reaches Q>1 commercially — rather than delivered power. ### Has any fusion plant actually been licensed to operate? In June 2026, **Helion Energy** became the first company in the world to hold the licenses to operate a fusion power plant, after Washington State's Department of Health issued a Radioactive Materials License and a Radioactive Air Emissions License for its Orion plant in Malaga, WA (June 16, 2026). This came via the NRC's April 2023 framework classifying fusion under **Part 30** byproduct-materials regulation rather than Part 50 nuclear-reactor rules — and it's the clearest evidence yet that the Part 30 route is a workable path to commercial fusion, not just a theoretical one. ## Charts (embeddable) - **Fusion: pre-commercial firm-clean.** — https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/embed/fusion-two-curves (https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/embed/fusion-two-curves.svg · https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/embed/fusion-two-curves.png) - **Fusion: targeting firm-clean baseload role.** — https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/embed/fusion-firm-role (https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/embed/fusion-firm-role.svg · https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/embed/fusion-firm-role.png) ## Sources - **fusion-private-capital-cumulative-source** — [Fusion Industry Association Global Fusion Industry 2024: $7.1B cumulative private capital end-FY24, up from $5.9B in 2023. 45 companies…](https://www.fusionindustryassociation.org/) - **fusion-companies-global-source** — [FIA Global Fusion Industry 2024: 45 companies tracked globally end-FY24, up from 33 in 2022. ~34 US-domiciled.](https://www.fusionindustryassociation.org/) - **llnl-nif-ignition-2023** — [NIF Ignition Achievement](https://www.llnl.gov/news/lawrence-livermore-national-laboratory-achieves-ignition-fourth-time) _(primary, report)_ - **helion-microsoft-ppa** — [Helion-Microsoft PPA Announcement](https://www.helionenergy.com/articles/helion-announces-worlds-first-fusion-ppa-with-microsoft/) _(self-reported, report)_ - **doe-fes-milestone** — [DOE Fusion Energy Sciences Milestone Program](https://www.energy.gov/science/articles/department-energy-announces-46-million-eight-companies-developing-fusion-energy) _(primary, report)_ ## Related sectors [Bioenergy](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/bioenergy.md) · [Coal](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/coal.md) · [Data Centers](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/data-centers.md) · [Geothermal](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/geothermal.md) · [Hydro](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/hydro.md) · [Natural Gas](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/natural-gas.md) · [Nuclear Fission](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/nuclear-fission.md) · [Oil](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/oil.md) · [Solar](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/solar.md) · [Energy Storage](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/storage.md) · [The Grid](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/the-grid.md) · [Wind](https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/wind.md) ## Machine access - Structured data: https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/fusion.json - Live data via MCP: https://mcp.moreenergycleanplanet.com/mcp — tools: get_sector, get_cost_curve, list_indicators, get_sources - License: CC BY 4.0 ```json { "schema_version": "1.2", "kind": "sector", "slug": "fusion", "title": "Fusion", "pillar": { "slug": "energy-production", "title": "Energy Production" }, "status": "live", "theme_color": "#FFB627", "summary": "Post-ignition commercial fusion. Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Helion, and Zap racing to translate the 2022 NIF breakeven into a manufactured power plant. ITER — whose Magnet Cold Test Facility cooled its first coil to 4 K in June 2026 — is the public international megaproject backdrop, not a manufactured-energy / Wright's-Law player.", "analysis": "## What it is: Pre-commercial firm-clean. Measurable progress.\n\nFusion combines light atomic nuclei (deuterium + tritium, or deuterium + helium-3) into heavier ones, releasing energy. Multiple confinement strategies are in development: **magnetic confinement** (tokamaks, stellarators, spherical tokamaks, field-reversed configurations, magnetic mirrors), **inertial confinement** (laser, pulsed magnetic, Z-pinch), and various hybrids. The science is sound. The engineering is hard.\n\nThe Fusion Industry Association tracks **45 companies globally with $7.1B cumulative private capital** end-FY24 (FIA 2024). The US accounts for ~75% of the funding + ~34 of the companies. **Lawrence Livermore National Lab's National Ignition Facility** achieved **1.5x net energy gain** (3.15 MJ output / 2.05 MJ input) December 11, 2023 — repeated four times since — demonstrating that fusion ignition is achievable, not power-plant economics. **Microsoft + Helion** signed the first commercial fusion PPA in May 2023 (20-year, 50 MW target, ops 2028). **DOE Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program** ($46M to 8 companies, May 2023) signaled federal interest at scale.\n\nNothing on the US grid is fusion power yet. The economic story is \"if these companies deliver, then\" — and the if has substantial technology + supply-chain + radiation-containment + tritium-breeding + first-wall-materials risk. The thesis-relevant framing is that fusion is the future R&D wedge of Energy Production; the deliverables are still years out; the capital + corporate-PPA momentum is real.\n\n## The crossover: Annotated as pre-commercial firm-clean.\n\n**Figure — Energy Production's two curves (manufactured falling vs extractive rising), with fusion annotated as pre-commercial.** Interactive chart and accessible data table: [/embed/fusion-two-curves](/embed/fusion-two-curves).\n\n## Firm role (target): Targeting baseload firm-clean alongside nuclear + geothermal.\n\n**Figure — Fusion's target firm-clean role (85% capacity-factor target) alongside nuclear + geothermal.** Interactive chart and accessible data table: [/embed/fusion-firm-role](/embed/fusion-firm-role).\n\n## Technology: Tokamaks, stellarators, FRC, ICF, pulsed-magnetic, hybrids.\n\n**Magnetic confinement** dominates the pipeline. **Commonwealth Fusion Systems** SPARC (high-field tokamak with HTS magnets; target Q>1 plasma 2027 + ARC power plant FOAK by 2030s). **Helion Energy** Polaris (pulsed field-reversed configuration; D-He3 fuel; target 50 MW grid output 2028). **TAE Technologies** Norman + Copernicus (field-reversed-config; p-B11 aneutronic fuel path). **Tokamak Energy** ST40 spherical tokamak. **Type One Energy** Infinity One stellarator. **Realta Fusion** tandem-mirror.\n\n**Inertial + alternative confinement**: **Focused Energy** + **Xcimer Energy** laser-ICF; **Pacific Fusion** pulsed magnetic ($900M Series A May 2024 — largest single fusion round); **Zap Energy** sheared-flow Z-pinch. Each pathway has a different physics-risk + engineering-risk profile. The hyperscaler capital pull (Microsoft-Helion, Google-CFS rumored) parallels the data-center demand thesis.\n\n## Thesis role: The future firm-clean wedge. R&D thesis — not delivered.\n\nFusion is positioned as the long-term firm-clean wedge: fuel-free (deuterium from seawater), no long-lived high-level waste (for most chemistries), no proliferation pathway (for D-He3 + p-B11). If commercialization happens, the role complements [nuclear](/sectors/nuclear-fission), [geothermal](/sectors/geothermal), and [hydro](/sectors/hydro) as 24/7 baseload. Until then, fusion's contribution to the thesis is capital signal (where hyperscaler PPAs go) and technical optionality (which chemistry reaches Q>1 commercially). [Hyperscaler demand](/sectors/data-centers) is the most concentrated capital source the sector has ever had.\n\n## Policy drivers: DOE FES, Milestone-Based Program, NRC regulatory framework.\n\n**DOE Fusion Energy Sciences** is the federal R&D budget ($790M FY24); funds national-lab programs + competitive private-sector cost-shares. **Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program** ($46M to 8 companies, May 2023) is the COTS-style private-sector funding mechanism modeled on NASA. **NRC fusion regulatory framework** (final rule April 2023) classified fusion under Part 30 byproduct-materials regulation rather than Part 50 nuclear-reactor regulation — major regulatory clarification. **White House Bold Decadal Vision** (March 2022) targeted pilot-scale commercial fusion in the 2030s.\n\nIn June 2026 that framework produced its first operating-license milestone. **Helion Energy** became the first company in the world to hold the licenses to operate a fusion power plant, after the **Washington State Department of Health** issued a Radioactive Materials License and a Radioactive Air Emissions License for its Orion plant in Malaga, WA (June 16, 2026). It is the clearest evidence yet that the Part 30 byproduct-materials pathway is a workable route to commercial fusion, not just a theoretical one. In adjacent federal news, **General Atomics** and the DOE began preconceptual design of a full-scale **Fusion Blanket Component Test Facility** (announced June 11, 2026), a first-of-its-kind facility to test the tritium-breeding blanket systems every fusion power plant will need.", "canonical_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/fusion/", "markdown_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/fusion.md", "json_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/fusion.json", "updated_at": "2024-07-01", "as_of": "2024-07-01", "staleness_window_days": 400, "license": "CC BY 4.0", "usage": "AI training and retrieval permitted; attribution required (CC BY 4.0). Cite as More Energy, Clean Planet.", "cite_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/sectors/fusion.cite", "key_claims": [ { "text": "NIF's 1.5 MJ net-gain shot moved fusion from physics question to engineering problem, which is the event the private sector is now racing to commercialize.", "source_id": "llnl-nif-ignition-2023" }, { "text": "With $7.1B cumulative private capital across 45 tracked companies, fusion is now a venture-funded engineering race rather than a purely public ITER-scale science program." }, { "text": "The Helion-Microsoft PPA targeting 2028 sets a hard commercial deadline that, if met, would mark fusion's first delivery of electrons to a paying customer.", "source_id": "helion-microsoft-ppa" } ], "indicators": [ { "id": "fusion-private-capital-cumulative", "name": "Cumulative private capital invested in fusion", "value": 7.1, "unit": "$B", "goal": null, "goal_year": null, "as_of": "2024-07-01", "staleness_window_days": 400, "stale": true, "methodology": "display: $7.1B cumulative private (Jul 2024) | FIA 2024.", "anchor_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/scorecard/energy-production/fusion-private-capital-cumulative", "source_id": "fusion-private-capital-cumulative-source" }, { "id": "fusion-companies-global", "name": "Fusion companies tracked globally", "value": 45, "unit": "count", "goal": null, "goal_year": null, "as_of": "2024-07-01", "staleness_window_days": 400, "stale": true, "methodology": "display: 45 companies tracked globally | FIA 2024.", "anchor_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/scorecard/energy-production/fusion-companies-global", "source_id": "fusion-companies-global-source" }, { "id": "fusion-nif-ignition-output", "name": "NIF ignition record net energy gain", "value": 1.5, "unit": "MJ delta", "goal": null, "goal_year": null, "as_of": "2023-12-11", "staleness_window_days": 400, "stale": true, "methodology": "display: 1.5x net gain at NIF (Dec 2023) | LLNL; ignition demonstrated.", "anchor_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/scorecard/energy-production/fusion-nif-ignition-output", "source_id": "llnl-nif-ignition-2023" }, { "id": "fusion-microsoft-helion-ppa", "name": "Microsoft Helion PPA target year", "value": 2028, "unit": "year", "goal": 2028, "goal_unit": "year", "goal_year": 2028, "target_year": 2028, "as_of": "2023-05-10", "staleness_window_days": 400, "stale": true, "methodology": "display: 2028 target | Microsoft-Helion PPA, May 2023.", "anchor_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/scorecard/energy-production/fusion-microsoft-helion-ppa", "source_id": "helion-microsoft-ppa" }, { "id": "fusion-doe-milestone-cost-share", "name": "DOE Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program cost-share total", "value": 46, "unit": "$M", "goal": null, "goal_year": null, "as_of": "2023-05-31", "staleness_window_days": 400, "stale": true, "methodology": "display: $46M to 8 companies (May 2023) | DOE; milestone-based program.", "anchor_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/scorecard/energy-production/fusion-doe-milestone-cost-share", "source_id": "doe-fes-milestone" } ], "cost_curve": null, "companies": [ { "id": "commonwealth-fusion-systems", "name": "Commonwealth Fusion Systems", "stage": "series_b", "one_line_description": "MIT spinout developing compact high-field tokamak fusion reactors using high-temperature superconducting magnets, with SPARC under construction and ARC commercial plant planned for Virginia.", "ecosystem_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/commonwealth-fusion-systems" }, { "id": "focused-energy", "name": "Focused Energy", "stage": "rd", "one_line_description": "US laser-inertial-confinement fusion developer (NIF-style). Direct-drive proton-boron path. Founded by NIF + Lawrence Livermore alumni.", "ecosystem_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/focused-energy" }, { "id": "helion-energy", "name": "Helion Energy", "stage": "series_f", "one_line_description": "Pulsed-power fusion company developing field-reversed-configuration reactors that generate electricity directly from fusion magnetic fields, with a Microsoft offtake for 50 MW by 2028 and Polaris prototype currently operating.", "ecosystem_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/helion-energy" }, { "id": "pacific-fusion", "name": "Pacific Fusion", "stage": "rd", "one_line_description": "US pulsed-magnetic fusion developer. $900M Series A May 2024 (Eric Schmidt + General Catalyst + Khosla); largest single fusion round on record.", "ecosystem_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/pacific-fusion" }, { "id": "realta-fusion", "name": "Realta Fusion", "stage": "rd", "one_line_description": "US tandem-mirror magnetic-fusion developer. WHAM (Wisconsin HTS Axisymmetric Mirror) demonstration. Pivot from older magnetic-mirror programs using modern HTS magnets.", "ecosystem_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/realta-fusion" }, { "id": "tae-technologies", "name": "TAE Technologies", "stage": "rd", "one_line_description": "US field-reversed-configuration fusion developer. Norman + Copernicus + Da Vinci device series. Hydrogen-boron-11 (\"p-B11\") aneutronic fuel pathway. Largest cumulative private capital raised in fusion ($1.2B+).", "ecosystem_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/tae-technologies" }, { "id": "tokamak-energy", "name": "Tokamak Energy", "stage": "rd", "one_line_description": "UK spherical-tokamak fusion developer. ST40 device achieved >100M C plasma 2022. High-temperature superconducting magnet program parallel to CFS.", "ecosystem_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/tokamak-energy" }, { "id": "type-one-energy", "name": "Type One Energy", "stage": "rd", "one_line_description": "US advanced-stellarator fusion developer. Infinity One stellarator design; partnership with Tennessee Valley Authority + Oak Ridge National Lab. $82.5M Series A 2024.", "ecosystem_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/type-one-energy" }, { "id": "xcimer-energy", "name": "Xcimer Energy", "stage": "rd", "one_line_description": "US excimer-laser-inertial fusion developer. KrF excimer-laser-driven direct-drive ICF. $100M Series A 2024.", "ecosystem_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/xcimer-energy" }, { "id": "zap-energy", "name": "Zap Energy", "stage": "series_d", "one_line_description": "Sheared-flow Z-pinch fusion company spun out of University of Washington plasma research, now also developing small modular fission reactors using shared liquid-metal cooling and pulsed-power technology.", "ecosystem_url": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/ecosystem#company/zap-energy" } ], "faqs": [ { "question": "What is fusion power and why isn't any of it on the grid yet?", "answer_md": "Fusion combines light atomic nuclei (such as deuterium + tritium, or deuterium + helium-3) into heavier ones, releasing energy, using confinement strategies like **magnetic** (tokamaks, stellarators) and **inertial** (laser, Z-pinch). As MECP frames it, the science is sound but the engineering is hard — nothing on the US grid is fusion power yet. The deliverables are still years out, carrying substantial technology, supply-chain, radiation-containment, tritium-breeding, and first-wall-materials risk.", "source_id": null }, { "question": "Didn't a lab already achieve fusion 'net energy gain'?", "answer_md": "Yes — Lawrence Livermore's **National Ignition Facility** achieved 1.5x net energy gain (3.15 MJ output from 2.05 MJ input) on December 11, 2023, and has repeated it four times since. But that result demonstrates fusion *ignition* is achievable, **not** power-plant economics. It's a physics milestone, not evidence that fusion can deliver electricity to the grid at cost.", "source_id": null }, { "question": "How much money has gone into fusion companies?", "answer_md": "The Fusion Industry Association tracks **45 companies globally with $7.1B cumulative private capital** as of end-FY24, with the US accounting for ~75% of funding and roughly 34 of the companies. The single largest round was **Pacific Fusion's** $900M Series A (May 2024). MECP treats this capital — especially concentrated hyperscaler money like the Microsoft-Helion PPA — as the sector's real signal, since the technology itself hasn't been delivered.", "source_id": null }, { "question": "What role is fusion supposed to play in clean energy if it works?", "answer_md": "MECP positions fusion as the long-term **firm-clean wedge**: fuel-free (deuterium from seawater), no long-lived high-level waste for most chemistries, and no proliferation pathway for D-He3 and p-B11 fuels. If commercialization happens, it would complement [nuclear](/sectors/nuclear-fission), [geothermal](/sectors/geothermal), and [hydro](/sectors/hydro) as 24/7 baseload, targeting an 85% capacity factor. Until then its contribution is capital signal and technical optionality — which chemistry reaches Q>1 commercially — rather than delivered power.", "source_id": null }, { "question": "Has any fusion plant actually been licensed to operate?", "answer_md": "In June 2026, **Helion Energy** became the first company in the world to hold the licenses to operate a fusion power plant, after Washington State's Department of Health issued a Radioactive Materials License and a Radioactive Air Emissions License for its Orion plant in Malaga, WA (June 16, 2026). This came via the NRC's April 2023 framework classifying fusion under **Part 30** byproduct-materials regulation rather than Part 50 nuclear-reactor rules — and it's the clearest evidence yet that the Part 30 route is a workable path to commercial fusion, not just a theoretical one.", "source_id": null } ], "related_sectors": [ { "slug": "bioenergy", "title": "Bioenergy" }, { "slug": "coal", "title": "Coal" }, { "slug": "data-centers", "title": "Data Centers" }, { "slug": "geothermal", "title": "Geothermal" }, { "slug": "hydro", "title": "Hydro" }, { "slug": "natural-gas", "title": "Natural Gas" }, { "slug": "nuclear-fission", "title": "Nuclear Fission" }, { "slug": "oil", "title": "Oil" }, { "slug": "solar", "title": "Solar" }, { "slug": "storage", "title": "Energy Storage" }, { "slug": "the-grid", "title": "The Grid" }, { "slug": "wind", "title": "Wind" } ], "embeds": [ { "id": "fusion-two-curves", "title": "Fusion: pre-commercial firm-clean.", "permalink": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/embed/fusion-two-curves", "svg": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/embed/fusion-two-curves.svg", "png": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/embed/fusion-two-curves.png" }, { "id": "fusion-firm-role", "title": "Fusion: targeting firm-clean baseload role.", "permalink": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/embed/fusion-firm-role", "svg": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/embed/fusion-firm-role.svg", "png": "https://moreenergycleanplanet.com/embed/fusion-firm-role.png" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "fusion-private-capital-cumulative-source", "title": "Fusion Industry Association Global Fusion Industry 2024: $7.1B cumulative private capital end-FY24, up from $5.9B in 2023. 45 companies…", "url": "https://www.fusionindustryassociation.org/" }, { "id": "fusion-companies-global-source", "title": "FIA Global Fusion Industry 2024: 45 companies tracked globally end-FY24, up from 33 in 2022. ~34 US-domiciled.", "url": "https://www.fusionindustryassociation.org/" }, { "id": "llnl-nif-ignition-2023", "title": "NIF Ignition Achievement", "url": "https://www.llnl.gov/news/lawrence-livermore-national-laboratory-achieves-ignition-fourth-time", "publisher_tier": "primary", "source_type": "report", "note": "NIF Dec 2023 1.5x net gain shot." }, { "id": "helion-microsoft-ppa", "title": "Helion-Microsoft PPA Announcement", "url": "https://www.helionenergy.com/articles/helion-announces-worlds-first-fusion-ppa-with-microsoft/", "publisher_tier": "self-reported", "source_type": "report", "note": "First commercial fusion PPA." }, { "id": "doe-fes-milestone", "title": "DOE Fusion Energy Sciences Milestone Program", "url": "https://www.energy.gov/science/articles/department-energy-announces-46-million-eight-companies-developing-fusion-energy", "publisher_tier": "primary", "source_type": "report", "note": "Milestone-based fusion-development cost-share." } ], "mcp": { "server": "https://mcp.moreenergycleanplanet.com/mcp", "tools": [ "get_sector", "get_cost_curve", "list_indicators", "get_sources" ] } } ```