Dive Brief:
- The Biden administration on Thursday announced new funding, research and collaboration measures designed to accelerate efforts towards a pilot-scale fusion energy demonstration, and in particular to close science and technology “gaps” holding back development of a commercially relevant fusion pilot plant.
- The U.S. Department of Energy, through its Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, said it will make $180 million available for Fusion Innovation Research Engine, or FIRE, collaborative teams working to bridge foundational research and enabling technologies.
- DOE also announced awards totaling $46 million to eight companies to speed development of private-sector-led fusion pilots. The Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program is a “key tool to accelerate the fusion industry’s growth,” Commonwealth Fusion Systems CEO Bob Mumgaard said in a statement. The company was tapped for a $15 million award to advance its work using electromagnets to heat a plasma of hydrogen ions.
Dive Insight:
The development of large-scale fusion energy resources may be a decade or more away, but DOE and others have made significant progress maturing the technology in recent years and the Biden administration wants to keep that momentum going.
In 2022, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved net energy gain in a fusion experiment, a landmark achievement towards development of a clean and plentiful energy resource.
“Further innovation and investments by the U.S. government and the private sector, while leveraging key international partnerships, will help solidify America’s global leadership in developing this abundant and game-changing clean energy industry of the future,” the White House said Thursday.
Among yesterday’s announcements, DOE published its “Fusion Energy Strategy 2024” which lays out three key approaches to developing the industry: closing research gaps, ensuring fusion development is sustainable and equitable, and building external partnerships.
Toward those ends, DOE said its new FIRE collaboratives “are aimed at supporting the further creation of a fusion innovation ecosystem” by developing teams that will bridge the agency’s research capabilities with the needs of the fusion industry.
“At its core, FIRE represents a departure from traditional science programs,” according to the funding opportunity announcement. “It is structured as a framework comprised of collaboratives with the purpose of bridging the gap between foundational science and practical application.”
The collaboratives are “envisioned as dynamic hubs of innovation, driving advancements in fusion energy research in collaboration with both public and private entities,” DOE said. Award sizes are expected to range from $2 million a year to $5 million per year. The awards aim to support “pre-competitive” research and development “rather than to address near-term commercial opportunities,” the agency said.
A pre-application is required and due by July 9, according to the funding opportunity documents. Full applications are due Aug. 27.
DOE also announced it has signed funding agreements with eight companies through its Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program, for the first 18 months of a five-year program to advance designs and research and development.
Along with Commonwealth Fusion, DOE selected: Focused Energy; Thea Energy; Realta Fusion; Tokamak Energy; Type One Energy Group; Xcimer Energy; and Zap Energy.
The Milestone-based program is similar to NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Program, according to Commonwealth Fusion. Taxpayers “don’t have to bear any technical and financial risks,” the company said, because funding is released “only when companies reach their pre-agreed milestones.”
“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,” Commonwealth Fusion’s Mumgaard said. “I can’t emphasize enough how important that broader mindset is to the fight against climate change.”
