The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $8.5 million to 28 research projects aimed at addressing scientific and technological challenges facing the development of commercial fusion energy.

Through the DOE Office of Science's Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) program, the funding supports collaborations between private fusion companies, national laboratories and universities. The selected projects involve 22 commercial enterprises, with 17 awards led by national laboratories and 11 led by universities.

Research areas include modeling and simulation, materials science, plasma diagnostic development and other enabling technologies needed to advance fusion energy toward commercial viability.

The awards range from $100,000 to $500,000 per project and support one- or two-year research efforts. Projects were selected through a competitive peer-review process managed by the INFUSE leadership team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

"The race to commercial fusion will not be won in isolation," said DOE Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil. He noted that collaboration between national laboratories, universities and private companies will be essential to addressing the challenges involved in bringing fusion energy to market.

The funding announcement follows the opening of the INFUSE program's fiscal year 2027 Request for Assistance (RFA), which expands eligibility to consortia and introduces a new review topic focused on fusion pilot plant preconceptual designs.

The INFUSE program supports public-private research partnerships intended to accelerate fusion technology development. The projects align with the DOE's Fusion Science and Technology Roadmap, which identifies research and technology priorities for advancing commercial fusion energy.