Commonwealth Fusion Systems has secured $863 million to accelerate its work on fusion power, Bloomberg reported.
The Massachusetts-based company is building a demonstration system that is about 65% complete. Chief Executive Officer Bob Mumgaard said the project is on track to reach a critical milestone in 2027, opening the way for a commercial-scale plant in Virginia, according to Bloomberg.
“This brings us closer to making fusion a commercial endeavor,” Mumgaard said. “This is happening at a time when we need a lot of energy”.
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Fusion power is touted as the “holy grail” of clean energy because it can reduce our reliance on planet-warming fossil fuels. It also produces less radioactive waste than other processes, such as nuclear fission.
This scientific breakthrough means fusion power could propel us into a cleaner, more efficient future. A fusion reaction can create as much as 100 million times more power than burning dirty energy.
Fusion reactions typically use hydrogen — the most abundant element on Earth — which can be extracted from ocean water and lithium, and this can meet human energy needs for millions of years. Conversely, carbon-based, dirty energy is finite, and its growing scarcity can threaten our economy and national security.
Supporters see it as a way to lower energy bills and insurance costs, while reducing pollution and delivering a clean power source for expanding cities and industries. It has been touted as a technology that could transform how the world generates electricity.
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The Virginia plant under development is planned to deliver 400 megawatts of power, Bloomberg reported. Google has already agreed to purchase half of its output, reflecting rising demand from data centers in the region. The company expects the project to be finished in the early 2030s.
The latest funding round included NVentures, the venture capital arm of artificial intelligence giant Nvidia. Existing backers Khosla Ventures and Google also took part. With the new investment, Commonwealth has raised about $3 billion, representing one-third of all funding in the fusion industry to date.
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