Fusion start-up backed by Bill Gates plans UK’s first commercial plant
Most ambitious British timeframe yet for the technology comes as US and China race ahead in funding for sector
A US nuclear fusion start-up backed by Bill Gates has set out plans to complete the UK’s first commercial plant within a decade, as America and China race ahead in efforts to prove the technology is viable.
Type One Energy, supported by the Microsoft co-founder’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, has formed a consortium with US engineering firm Aecom and UK-based fusion supplier Tokamak Energy to develop the clean energy generator.
The UK plant, based on Type One’s design of a 400 megawatt commercial facility for a US public energy provider, is targeting completion by the mid-2030s, the most ambitious timeframe yet for the UK fusion industry.
Chris Mowry, chief executive of Type One, told the FT he was in “very early conversations with several potential customers” on the UK project.
Unlike fission, the technology used in nuclear power plants since the 1950s, fusion seeks to generate energy by combining atomic nuclei. Although yet to be proved commercially, it holds the promise of abundant clean energy.
Britain’s investment in fusion trails the US and China despite its leading role in fusion research since the 1940s. The UK government has committed £2.5bn to fusion over five years — including an initial £1.3bn to develop a prototype reactor called Step.
The funding gap has already begun to reshape the UK’s domestic industry. Some start-ups have scaled back ambitions to build fully commercial plants and instead shifted towards supplying components and technology.
Tokamak Energy, which has raised about $335mn, has shifted focus towards supplying next-generation superconducting magnets to other developers.
UK group First Light Fusion last year scrapped plans for a self-funded commercial plant, citing technical barriers and financial constraints, and is now expanding into non-fusion markets.
Mark Thomas, First Light’s chief executive, said building a commercial plant was a “very big undertaking”, adding that “very few are on that journey” given “the several billion dollars of investment needed to get to that point”.
The company has pitched an alternative plant design and pursued partnerships to fund the project. It said it could become profitable within four to five years from non-fusion revenues, and was “building a resilient business that can stand on its own two feet”.
The US and China are ploughing funds into commercialising nuclear fusion technology. Many fusion companies believe fusion can supply power to the grid by the 2030s, while sceptics believe they are still decades away.
The Chinese government is taking “very big strides” as it seeks to become the world leader, said Chris Gadomski of research firm BloombergNEF.
The leading US developers are backed by big tech groups such as Microsoft and Google, as well as tech billionaires including Sam Altman.
US Commonwealth Fusion Systems has raised about $3bn and plans to build its first commercial plant in the early 2030s. Google has signed up as an offtake customer.
Ian Hogarth of European venture investor Plural said European governments could play the role of hyperscalers, which led the US funding for the fusion technology.
Plural has invested in European start-up Proxima Fusion, which has pitched a €2bn test facility in Bavaria and is seeking majority funding from the German government.
State backing can “massively crowd in private investment”, Hogarth added, helping start-ups overcome capital-intensive milestones, drawing parallels with Nasa’s early support for SpaceX.