The race to build the first commercially viable fusion plant is on, with US firms Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) and Helion making strides this week towards getting a facility up and running in the early 2030s.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology spin-off CFS has announced the publishing of five peer-reviewed papers that delve into the technology behind its upcoming ARC fusion reactor and confirm the key physics that will enable ARC to continuously deliver 400 megawatts (MW) of net electricity to the grid.
While relatively small in scale, ARC’s output is roughly 40% of a conventional fission reactor, so it will make a meaningful contribution to the grid once online.
CFS is also nearing completion on its SPARC plant, a test unit that is capable of achieving up to 140MW of fusion power in 10-second bursts despite its compact size. The project is scheduled to start operations later this year, with the goal of demonstrating net power in early 2027.
“In publishing these papers, CFS and...