Nuclear fusion energy—the holy grail and distant dream of carbon-free, sustainable baseload power—is closer to reality than ever despite never having crossed the threshold of commercialization so far.
Aside from numerous startups and venture capital funding successful, if limited experiments in achieving commercial nuclear fusion, the U.S. Department of Energy has developed a long-term strategy aiming for success and grid connection by the mid-2030s.
The DOE’s newly released Fusion Science and Technology (FS&T) Roadmap got its first public share at the U.S. Fusion Energy Enterprise Events last week in Washington, D.C. Unlike its nuclear cousin fission—in which atoms are split to release and control energy output—nuclear fusion combines two or more atomic nuclei to create a theoretically limitless reaction in energy output.
Commercial fusion work is going on, but the process has yet to be tamed and utilized for utility-scale power generation. The push by the U.S. Energy Department and numerous private ventures seeks to accelerate that commercialization.
“The Fusion Science and Technology Roadmap brings unprecedented coordination across America's fusion enterprise,” said Energy Department Under Secretary for Science Dr. Darío Gil, in a statement. “For the first time, DOE, industry, and our National Labs will be aligned with a shared purpose—to accelerate the path to commercial fusion power and strengthen America’s leadership in energy innovation.”
The FS&T Roadmap strategy proposes three drivers for fusion commercialization: Building critical infrastructure to close fusion materials and technology gaps; advanced research, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence; nurturing the U.S. fusion ecosystem through public and private partnerships, regional manufacturing hubs and workforce development.
Last month, the DOE announced $134 million in funding for two fusion development programs. Most of the money was allocated to the Fusion Innovative Research Engine (FIRE) collaboration which includes national laboratories such as Savannah River, Idaho and Sandia national labs as well as Tokamak Energy, Stellerax, Commonwealth Fusion Systems and other private startups.
In other commercial fusion work, Tennessee Valley Authority is working with Oak Ridge National Lab and Lawrence Livermore National Lab has achieved some experimental breakthroughs over past years.
Many companies see nuclear fusion as a future benefit to fuel the growth of industrial computing, cloud-based data centers and AI facilities. Google has committed to a 200-MW offtake agreement with Commonwealth Fusion Systems once the latter’s power plant is built and commissioned in Virginia.
“By entering into this agreement with CFS, we hope to help prove out and scale a promising pathway toward commercial fusion power,” Michael Terrell, head of advanced energy at Google, said in a statement announcing the deal this summer. “We’re excited to make this longer-term bet on a technology with transformative potential to meet the world’s future energy demand, and support CFS in their efforts to reach the scientific and engineering milestones needed to get there.”
Fusion startup Helion, supported with a power purchase agreement with Microsoft, has broken ground on the housing for its planned power generation plant in Washington state.
A form of nuclear fusion is what powers the sun in our solar system. In manmade experimental testing facilities, confining and fusing a plasma using deuterium, tritium and other elements. So far, the National Ignition Facility at Livermore National Lab is the only facility to achieve net energy gain from a fusion reaction.
