| | | Google’s Secretive Investment in Fusion | | By Jeff Brown, Editor, The Bleeding Edge | | | | Q must be greater than 1. | | This is the most critical step towards making nuclear fusion, as a source of clean energy, commercially viable. | | It’s a simple equation. |
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| If the power (P) produced by the fusion reaction is greater than the power required to start and maintain the fusion reaction, Q will be greater than 1. Thus, a net energy-producing reaction. | | Aside from being a simple scientific equation, it is also the crux of a major deal that Google (GOOGL) struck last week with Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS). Based in Devens, Massachusetts, Commonwealth is one of the most promising private nuclear fusion companies right now. | | While the financial details of the deal weren’t provided, my best guess is that this is at least a $500 million deal and likely a $1 billion+ transaction that hinges on Q being greater than 1. | | What has been made public, however, is a fantastic development: | | Google has invested in Commonwealth Fusion Systems at an unknown valuation.Google has agreed to a power purchase agreement (PPA) for at least 200 megawatts of power from Commonwealth’s first full-scale ARC nuclear fusion power plant to be built in Chesterfield County, Virginia.Google has the option, perhaps even the first right of refusal, to purchase power for future Commonwealth nuclear fusion plants. | | Naturally, the fact that one of the largest data center companies in the world, Google, has both invested in Commonwealth and entered into a power purchase agreement in advance is clearly an indication of Google’s belief in Commonwealth and its approach to nuclear fusion. | | Google’s agreement to purchase clean energy in the future from Commonwealth mirrors an earlier agreement made by Microsoft in 2023 to do the same from another private nuclear fusion firm, Helion Energy, based in the Seattle area. | | There’s one big difference, however… |
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| Google’s Inside View | | Google has been an investor in Commonwealth Fusion Systems since its Series B round at the end of 2021. In other words, Google has been an insider for several years with inside access to the progress that Commonwealth has been making. | | The Series B round raised an impressive $1.8 billion, the first major raise – substantial enough to fund the prototype reactor – since Commonwealth was founded. | | And now Google is stepping up to invest again, at an undisclosed amount, in addition to its power purchase agreement. | | Now that’s what I call a bullish signal. Not only does Google believe that it is making a good investment, it also believes that Commonwealth has a near-term path towards Q > 1, and eventually commercialization onto a power grid. | | Shown below is the Commonwealth nuclear fusion facility that houses its prototype fusion reactor, which is currently under construction. | | | | Commonwealth Fusion Systems in Devens, MA | Source: Commonwealth Fusion Systems | | One thing should stand out. Both the facility that houses the SPARC prototype reactor (in the foreground) and the corporate headquarters (in the background) fit on just several acres of land. | | And because this is nuclear fusion, not a second or third generation of nuclear fission, there is no need for a massive cooling tower, and no risk of a nuclear meltdown, which is impossible in a fusion reaction. | | Nuclear fusion reactors typically have much smaller footprints than even the small modular reactors (SMRs), which represent the fourth generation of nuclear fission technology. | | Commonwealth’s SPARC | | Below is the work in progress at Commonwealth Fusion Systems of its prototype SPARC fusion reactor. | | | | Commonwealth Fusion Systems SPARC reactor | Source: Commonwealth Fusion Systems | | And here is a graphic rendering of what it will look like when completed. | | | | SPARC fusion reactor rendering | Source: Commonwealth Fusion Systems | | The SPARC is a prototype that will be capable of generating 50–140 megawatts of power for short periods of time. The SPARC reactor is a tokamak reactor that has roughly a circular shape and contains magnets that produce a donut-shaped plasma. | | It’s easy to understand the shape of the plasma by looking at the shape of the magnets shown below. | | | | SPARC HTS Magnets | Source: Commonwealth Fusion Systems | | Above is a photo of Commonwealth’s high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets that it’s using for its SPARC prototype reactor. They are the largest of their kind in the world and can produce a magnetic field somewhere between 100–1000 times anything else that exists today. | | If we can imagine standing the above stack of magnets up straight and then making a sphere with them, the open area in the center would represent the shape of a donut. | | One of Commonwealth’s competitive advantages right now is its HTS magnets, which it is already assembling. | | Commonwealth’s fusion technology isn’t 10 or 20 years away. The current plan is to demonstrate Q > 1 no later than 2026, I expect within 12 months. | | And better yet, Commonwealth is predicting that it will be able to demonstrate sustainable bursts of net energy production with SPARC by 2027. | | From SPARC to ARC | | It’s very clear in the industry that nuclear fusion companies are achieving clear and material technological milestones, which is what is driving both venture capital and corporate investment. | | And companies with massive AI-related data center infrastructure, like Google, will be consistent investors in the fusion companies they believe have a path towards commercialization. | | What’s different now compared to 10 years ago? | | Back then, fusion was just a vision, just an experiment. Today, the technology exists. And we now have the artificial intelligence not just to drive demand for clean energy production, but also to use for managing the magnetic fields that safely contain the nuclear fusion plasmas. | | So what happens after SPARC produces net energy? Commonwealth will begin building its ARC, its commercial grid-scale fusion reactor capable of producing at least 400 megawatts, currently planned to go live in Virginia in the “early 2030s.” | | And the ARC reactor will be capable of producing at least 10 times the amount of energy that is required to start and maintain the reaction. | | In other words: |
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| And with that will come at least 10 times the level of investment in nuclear fusion technology and fusion power plant infrastructure than we’re seeing today. | | All within the next five years. | | We’re so close to limitless, clean, cheap energy for all. | | Jeff | | |
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