New U.S. government announcements to support fusion commercialization

DOE announced its new “Fusion Energy Strategy 2024”– which builds off of the U.S. Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial Fusion Energy that the Biden Administration launched in 2022 to develop a strategy for accelerating the viability of commercial fusion energy in partnership with the private sector.

This new DOE Fusion Energy Strategy 2024 centers around three pillars: (1) closing the science and technology (S&T) gaps to a commercially relevant fusion pilot plant; (2) preparing the path to sustainable, equitable commercial fusion deployment; and (3) building and leveraging external partnerships. 

On the same that DOE released the Fusion Energy Strategy 2024, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Department of Energy (DOE) hosted fusion energy leaders from the executive branch, Congress, industry, academia, and other stakeholder groups to highlight progress to date, discuss critical upcoming milestones to support success, and build momentum toward a pilot-scale fusion energy demonstration in the next decade.

At this event, the White House announced new, inter-agency actions to accelerate a pilot-scale fusion energy demonstration and highlighted progress from the two years.  The new actions include the following:

• New $180 million funding opportunity to address science and technology challenges associated with a fusion pilot plant.  DOE’s Office of Fusion Energy Sciences is announcing a $180 million Funding Opportunity Announcement for new Fusion Innovation Research Engine (FIRE) Collaboratives. The FIRE Collaboratives will support teams working to close key science and technology gaps to a commercially relevant fusion pilot plant, while bridging foundational research and enabling technologies to the needs of the growing U.S. fusion industry.
• New public-private partnerships for research and development to enable viable designs for fusion pilot plants. DOE is announcing signed agreements for all eight selectees of its Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program. The program will provide up to $46 million for public-private partnerships between DOE and eight fusion companies for the first 18 months of a five-year program to advance designs and research and development for private-sector-led fusion pilot plants. Companies with completed agreements today include: Commonwealth Fusion Systems; Focused Energy, Thea Energy, Realta Fusion, Tokamak Energy, Type One Energy Group, Xcimer Energy, and Zap Energy.
• New request for information (RFI) on a proposed fusion energy public-private consortium framework. Looking to the future of new public-private partnerships, DOE is releasing an RFI on a proposed fusion energy public-private consortium that aims to amplify federal funding by catalyzing and bringing together state and local government, private, and philanthropic funding to accelerate fusion energy research and development, as well as future demonstration and deployment, in a manner with the potential to meet the timelines of the Bold Decadal Vision.

For more information about the fusion industry and the latest activities, contact Amy Roma, Partner, or Stephanie Fishman, Associate