Company says nuclear fusion could power the grid – and soon
Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a Massachusetts-based company, is advancing toward delivering nuclear fusion power to the US electrical grid by the 2030s. Its demonstration tokamak is 75% complete and expected to be operational by late next year, aiming to achieve net energy gain. If successful, the company plans to build a 400-megawatt fusion plant in Virginia called the Fall Line Fusion Power Station.
- ▪Commonwealth Fusion Systems is building a tokamak that uses powerful magnets to contain superheated plasma for nuclear fusion.
- ▪The company has applied to connect its future fusion plant to PJM, the nation’s largest grid operator, marking a key step toward grid integration.
- ▪Fusion fuel comes from deuterium in seawater and tritium from lithium, offering a nearly limitless energy source without greenhouse gases or long-lived nuclear waste.
- ▪A 400-megawatt fusion plant would have capacity similar to a gas-fired plant but smaller than most nuclear fission or coal plants.
- ▪Experts note that while fusion has seen recent breakthroughs, sustaining net energy gain at scale remains a major technical challenge.
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window.CNN.contentModel.leadingMediaType = 'image'; window.CNN.contentModel.isVideoCollection = false; Workers assemble toroidal field magnets at the Commonwealth Fusion Systems campus in Devens, Massachusetts, on November 6, 2024. The company's growing conviction that fusion is within reach after decades of research comes as they complete magnets that will be critical for containing the superheated plasma needed to generate power. Cassandra Klos/Bloomberg/Getty Images Facebook Tweet Email Link Threads Link Copied! A Massachusetts-based fusion company took another step this week in its race to become the first to get the same power fueling the sun and stars onto the US electrical grid.
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