DEVENS,
Mass., June 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Commonwealth
Fusion Systems (CFS) has signed an agreement with the U.S.
Department of Energy worth $15
million to meet research and development goals leading to
commercial fusion power. The funding is part of the first phase of
the Department of Energy's (DOE) Milestone-Based Fusion Development
Program to advance this critical new energy technology and to
ensure U.S. leadership in the global race to develop it.
CFS was among eight fusion companies DOE selected in 2023 to
receive a total of $46 million
through the Milestone program. The program is a key element in
support of the Administration's Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial
Fusion Energy and the Net-Zero Game Changers Initiative. DOE Deputy
Secretary David Turk announced the
CFS agreement signing today at an event marking the second
anniversary of the Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial Fusion
Energy.
At the event, CFS Chief Executive and Co-Founder Bob Mumgaard joined Turk and Justina Gallegos, Deputy Director of the
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, along with
other fusion company executives, researchers, and Biden
Administration officials.
"The Milestone program is a key tool to accelerate the fusion
industry's growth from research projects to operating power plants.
Its incentives can help us keep moving step by step toward our goal
of building our first fusion power plant by the early 2030s,"
Mumgaard said. "Clean, abundant fusion energy will help the country
reach its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050."
The program is similar to NASA's Commercial Orbital
Transportation Services (COTS) program, which pioneered the
milestone-based approach that successfully led the U.S. private
spaceflight industry to rebuild the country's manned spaceflight
abilities. Because pre-agreed funding amounts are released only
when companies reach their pre-agreed milestones, it means
taxpayers don't have to bear any technical and financial risks.
Companies also must invest some of their own money into the
Milestone work.
The Milestone program is paired with another recently announced
program called the Fusion Innovation Research Engine (FIRE)
collaboratives, which is designed to help universities and National
Labs investigate technology that is key to fusion
commercialization. Fusion company partners will also cooperate in
these collaborations. FIRE and Milestone are intended to work
together to advance fusion science and enable fusion power
deployment.
"After decades of primarily supporting only scientific projects,
federal fusion funding priorities now also include the practical
needs of a new industry that will disrupt the way we think about
and use energy," Mumgaard said. "I can't emphasize enough how
important that broader mindset is to the fight against climate
change."
Fusion, the process that powers the sun, can supply
round-the-clock power with virtually unlimited fuel. At its
Massachusetts headquarters, CFS is
building a machine called SPARC that will use powerful
electromagnets to heat up and squeeze a plasma of hydrogen ions
until fusion occurs. CFS will finish SPARC assembly and
commissioning by the end of 2025, with first plasma expected in
2026 and net fusion energy shortly thereafter. SPARC will pave the
way to the company's first power plant, ARC, which is expected to
deliver power to the grid in the early 2030s.
About CFS
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is
collaborating with the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT) to combine
decades of research with new groundbreaking high-temperature
superconducting (HTS) magnet technology to enable compact fusion
power plants that can be constructed faster and at lower cost. The
mission is to deploy fusion power plants to meet global
decarbonization goals as fast as possible. CFS has raised more than
$2 billion in funding since it was
founded in 2018 and assembled a team of leaders in tough tech,
fusion science, and manufacturing with a track record of rapid
execution. Supported by the world's leading investors, CFS is
uniquely positioned to deliver limitless, clean, fusion power to
combat climate change.
Media Contact
press@cfs.energy
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SOURCE Commonwealth Fusion Systems