Canada Leads the Charge in Fusion Energy Development with New Centre

The promise of future nuclear fusion, while not a commercial reality today, is driving billions of dollars investment in research and development worldwide.

The federal Atomic Energy of Canada announced it is establishing a Centre for Fusion Energy with Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, utility operator Ontario Power Generation and technology firm Stellarex. The collaboration will create a national platform for an integrated Canadian fusion ecosystem, develop advanced domestic fusion energy capabilities, and advance fusion energy research and development in Canada.

Unlike the longtime commercialized nuclear fission, which creates energy by splitting nuclei, fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined and create potentially unlimited carbon-free power capacity.

Nuclear fusion has never generated consistent energy on a commercial scale, although numerous experiments have been successful on achieving net energy with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and other projects globally. It is the reaction which powers the sun. 

“As fusion energy represents the next frontier in clean 24/7 power, Ontario is again leading the way with Ontario Power Generation delivering the Centre for Fusion Energy as well as doubling down on our nuclear advantage by investing in the development of fusion nuclear power — an almost inexhaustible source of emission-free energy for future generations,” Stephen Lecce, Minister of Energy and Mines for the province, said in a statement.

The federal government contribution comes from Atomic Energy of Canada’s Federal Nuclear Science and Technology Work Plan, with an investment of $33 million of in-kind fusion-related research projects delivered by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories. The program connects the tritium, fusion and materials research capabilities of Canadian Nuclear Laboratories with the Centre for Fusion Energy.

The province of Ontario, through Ontario Power Generation, is also investing $19.5 million, and Stellarex is contributing up to $39 million in fusion energy development and deployment activities. Ontario, through OPG, has commercial tritium, a by-product of OPG’s CANDU reactors, serving as a fusion fuel for nearly all fusion reactor designs.

Despite nuclear fusion’s lack of commercial scaling so far, many companies and utilities are investing in fusion startup projects. Google has committed to a 200-MW offtake agreement with nuclear fusion firm Commonwealth Fusion Systems from its first-ever power plant to be sited, if and when it’s approved and built, in Chesterfield County, Virginia.

Fusion startup Helion has started work to construct its first plant in Chelan County, Washington. The Orion facility, when completed and commissioned, would supply fusion-generated electricity to Microsoft by 2028, utilizing Constellation Energy as the power marketer.