The U.S. Department of Energy has announced $107 million for Fusion Innovation Research Engine collaboratives and $46 million for the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program to help accelerate the development of fusion energy.
In a significant step towards the development of fusion energy, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the allocation of $107 million to establish Fusion Innovation Research Engine (FIRE) collaboratives.
This program aims at the basis for making research possible through technological acceleration for commercially viable fusion pilot plants.
FIRE Collaboratives: A New Way to Develop Fusion Research
FIRE collaboratives are the proposed method through which public-private partnerships among national laboratories, universities, and private industry leaders are built to collectively develop capabilities addressing scientific and technological challenges specific to the fusion development of energy.
Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program: The Right Way of Success
Complementing the FIRE initiative, the DOE’s Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program has allocated $46 million to eight private companies.
Modeled after NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, this approach is steeped in a results-oriented structure whereby funding from the federal government is tied to milestones in technical and commercialization accomplishments.
The selected private companies are:
Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Focused Energy, Austin, Texas
Princeton Stellarators, Branchburg, New Jersey
Realta Fusion, Madison, Wisconsin
Tokamak Energy, Bruceton Mills, West Virginia
Type One Energy (Madison, Wisconsin)
Xcimer Energy (Redwood City, California)
Zap Energy (Everett, Washington)
These companies are tasked with advancing fusion power plant designs and overcoming key scientific and technological challenges in the next five to ten years.
A Vision for a Net-Zero Economy
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said, “Fusion energy holds the promise of providing a nearly limitless, safe, and clean energy source. By investing in programs like FIRE and the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program, we are paving the way toward a net-zero economy by 2050.”
Industry Response
Commonwealth Fusion Systems CEO Bob Mumgaard, one of the winners in the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program, said of the public-private partnership, “This partnership is critical to accelerate the growth of the fusion industry. It will support needed advancements to overcome technical challenges and make the fusion energy a reality.”
This development by DOE is a watershed moment in the quest for fusion energy. This, indeed, is the U.S. finally moving toward definitively harnessing fusion as an energy source that will become sustainable and plentiful in the future.
