Commercial fusion is a term used to refer to privately or publicly held companies which aim to sell electricity produced by nuclear fusion. The industry now consists of over 40 companies that have attracted a combined total of more than $7 billion in investment. [1] [2]
| Company | Year founded | Method | Fuel | Country | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acceleron Fusion (formerly NK Labs, LLC) | 2023 (NK Labs founded 2008) | Muon-catalyzed | deuterium–tritium | United States | [3] [4] [5] |
| Avalanche Energy | 2018 | Hybrid: colliding beam, electrostatic confinement, magnetic confinement | deuterium–tritium | United States | [6] [7] |
| Blue Laser Fusion | 2022 | Inertial confinement: optical enhancement cavity (OEC) laser | proton–boron | United States | [8] [9] |
| Commonwealth Fusion Systems | 2018 | Magnetic confinement: tokamak | deuterium–tritium | United States | [10] [11] Formerly Compact Fusion Systems, Inc. |
| Cortex Fusion Systems | 2021 | Inertial confinement: non-thermal, laser | deuterium–tritium | United States | [12] |
| Crossfield Fusion Ltd | 2019 | Closed orbit, velocity resonant systems | United Kingdom | [13] Reactor development ended 2021 [14] [15] | |
| CTFusion, Inc | 2015 | Magnetic confinement: dynomak | deuterium–tritium | United States | Spin-off: University of Washington [16] [17] Closed 2023 [18] |
| Deutelio | 2022 | Magnetic confinement: levitated dipole | deuterium–deuterium | Switzerland | [19] [15] |
| Electric Fusion Systems, Inc. | 2020 | Non-thermal: light element electric fusion (LEEF) | Rydberg matter: proton–lithium7 | United States | [20] [21] |
| EMC2 Fusion (Energy/Matter Conversion Corporation) | 1985 | Magnetic confinement: polywell | deuterium–tritium | United States | [22] [23] [24] |
| Energy Singularity Energy Technology | 2021 | Magnetic confinement: tokamak | deuterium–tritium | China | [25] [26] |
| ENN Energy | 2017 | Magnetic confinement: spheromak | proton–boron | China | [27] [28] [11] |
| EX-Fusion | 2021 | Inertial confinement: laser | deuterium–tritium | Japan | [29] [30] |
| First Light Fusion | 2011 | Inertial confinement: impact | deuterium–tritium | United Kingdom | [31] [32] [33] [15] [34] [11] Spin-off: University of Oxford [35] |
| Focused Energy | 2021 | Inertial confinement: laser | deuterium–tritium | United States | [36] [37] [15] [34] [38] [35] |
| Fuse Energy Technologies Corporation | 2019 | Magneto-inertial: magnetized liner | deuterium–tritium | United States | [39] |
| Fusion Power Corporation | 2016 | Inertial confinement: heavy ion | deuterium–tritium | United States | [40] Dissolved 2019 [41] |
| Gauss Fusion | 2022 | Magnetic confinement: stellarator | deuterium–tritium | Germany | [42] [15] |
| General Atomics Fusion Division | 2022 | Magnetic confinement: tokamak | deuterium–tritium | United States | [43] [44] [45] |
| General Fusion | 2002 | Magneto-inertial: magnetized target | deuterium–tritium | Canada | [46] [11] |
| HB11 Energy | 2017 | Inertial confinement: non-thermal, laser | proton–boron | | [47] [48] [49] [50] [35] |
| Helical Fusion | 2021 | Magnetic confinement: stellarator | deuterium–tritium | Japan | [51] [30] |
| Helicity Space | 2018 | Magneto-inertial: plasma jet collider-compressor | deuterium–deuterium | United States | [52] [53] For spaceflight |
| Helion Energy | 2013 | Magneto-inertial: field-reversed configuration collider-compressor | deuterium–helium3 | United States | [54] [55] |
| Horne Technologies | 2008 | Hybrid confinement: magnetic, electrostatic | deuterium–deuterium, proton–boron | United States | [56] [57] |
| HyperJet Fusion | 2017 | Magneto-inertial | United States | [58] [11] | |
| KMS Fusion | 1969 | Inertial confinement | deuterium–tritium | United States | Closed 1991 [59] |
| Kyoto Fusioneering | 2019 | Magnetic confinement | deuterium–tritium | Japan | [60] [30] Spin-off: Kyoto University [61] |
| LaserFusionX | 2022 | Inertial confinement | deuterium–tritium | United States | [62] [38] |
| Lockheed Martin | 2010 | Magnetic confinement: cusps | deuterium–tritium | United States | [63] [11] |
| Longview Fusion Energy Systems | 2021 | Inertial confinement: laser | deuterium–tritium | United States | [64] [34] [38] [35] |
| LPP Fusion, Inc. (Lawrenceville Plasma Physics) | 2003 | Magnetic confinement pinch: dense plasma focus | proton–boron | United States | [65] President, chief scientist: Eric J. Lerner |
| Magneto Inertial Fusion Technology Inc. (MIFTI) | 2008 | Magneto-inertial: z-pinch | deuterium–tritium | United States | [66] [67] Spin-off: University of California, Irvine; Division: US Nuclear Corp [68] |
| Marvel Fusion | 2019 | Inertial confinement: laser | proton–boron | Germany | [69] [15] [38] [35] |
| Norrønt AS | 2016 (Ultrafusion) 2018 (Norrønt) | Muon-catalyzed | deuterium–tritium | Norway | [70] Formerly Ultrafusion Nuclear Power, merged with Norrønt Fusion Energy [71] |
| nT-Tao | 2019 | Magnetic confinement: stellarator | deuterium–tritium | Israel | [72] [73] |
| NearStar Fusion | 2021 | Magneto-inertial: magnetized target, impact | deuterium–tritium, deuterium–deuterium, proton–boron | United States | [74] [75] [76] |
| Novatron Fusion Group AB | 2019 | Magnetic confinement: mirror | deuterium–tritium | Sweden | [77] [78] [79] [80] |
| OpenStar Technologies | 2021 | Magnetic confinement: levitated dipole | deuterium–deuterium (tritium suppressed) | New Zealand | [81] |
| Princeton Fusion Systems | 1992 | Magnetic confinement: field-reversed configuration | deuterium–helium3 | United States | [82] Formerly Princeton Satellite Systems until 2017 [83] [11] |
| Proxima Fusion | 2023 | Magnetic confinement: quasi-isodynamic stellarator | deuterium–tritium | Germany | [84] Spin-off: Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics [15] |
| Realta Fusion | 2022 | Magnetic confinement: tandem mirror | deuterium–tritium | United States | [85] Spin-off: University of Wisconsin–Madison [86] [87] |
| Renaissance Fusion | 2021 | Magnetic confinement: stellarator | deuterium–tritium | France | [88] [15] |
| Stellarex, Inc | 2022 | Magnetic confinement: stellarator | deuterium–tritium | United States | [89] Spin-off: Princeton University [61] |
| Shine Technologies | 2005 | Magneto-electrostatic confinement: particle accelerator | deuterium–tritium | United States | [90] Spin-off: Phoenix Nuclear Labs, 2010; Focus: producing radioisotopes, not energy [91] [92] |
| TAE Technologies | 1998 | Magnetic confinement: beam driven field-reversed configuration | proton–boron | United States | [93] Formerly Tri Alpha Energy [11] |
| Thea Energy (formerly Princeton Stellarators) | 2022 | Magnetic confinement: stellarator | deuterium–tritium | United States | [94] [61] |
| Tokamak Energy | 2009 | Magnetic confinement: tokamak | deuterium–tritium | United Kingdom | [95] [61] Spin-off: Culham Centre for Fusion Energy |
| Type One Energy Group | 2019 | Magnetic confinement: stellarator | deuterium–tritium | United States | [96] [87] |
| Xcimer Energy Inc. | 2022 | Inertial confinement: excimer laser | deuterium–tritium | United States | [97] [34] [35] |
| Zap Energy | 2017 | Magnetic confinement: z-pinch | deuterium–tritium | United States | [98] Spin-off: University of Washington [18] [55] [99] |
For decades researchers have famously said that fusion power is always 30, or even 50, years away. [100] [101] The advent of commercial fusion has changed that, and now fusion power is typically forecast to be around 10 years away, with most companies forecasting that the first fusion plant will deliver electricity to the grid before 2035. [102] Although most of the companies have existed for only a few years, some have already failed to deliver on their forecasts. General Fusion first forecast that it would deliver electricity to the grid by 2009. [103]
The company adopted a new approach to building fusion reactors based on patented technology (US8138692) called the Epicyclotron. The company was founded in 2019 and developed a working fusion device in 2021 based on this approach. In October 2021 the company determined through the experimentation work completed and detailed 'particle in cell' modelling of loss mechanisms that the reactor would not scale as initially anticipated (and therefore could not be developed to deliver a net gain fusion reactor). The company is currently exploring the use of this technology they developed in hydrogen isotope separation as part of the fusion fuel cycle.
The standard joke about fusion is that it is 50 years away and always will be.
In this report, 25 companies think the first fusion plant will deliver electricity to the grid before 2035.