Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is one of the largest and most publicized private nuclear fusion companies. Since its founding in 2018, the company has raised over $2 billion in capital. CFS will invest multi-billion dollars to build a facility nearby Richmond, Virginia, USA.
After startup the plant will be able to produce 400 megawatts of clean energywhich is enough to power approximately 150,000 homes, CFS CEO Bob Mumgaard said, as quoted by CNN.
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin is equally enthusiastic about the new project, calling the CFS announcements “a historic moment for Virginia and the entire world.”
As CNN notes, the power plant in Richmond would represent a new phase in the quest to commercialize nuclear fusion, the process that powers stars. “This will be the first time that fusion power will be available globally at grid scale,” Mumgaard said.
The world is desperate for clean energy
With the planet warming globally, the world desperately needs a clean, abundant energy source that can replace fossil fuels as an always-available source of base energy.
Nuclear fusion meets all the conditions for such a source. The energy from nuclear fusion is almost limitlessMoreover it does not produce planet-heating pollutants and unlike nuclear fission technology, it leaves no long-term nuclear waste behind.
But transferring the technology from research projects in laboratories around the world to commercial use is proving extremely difficult.
How to light the sun on Earth?
Nuclear fusion involves combining atoms to create a powerful burst of energy, achieved using the most abundant element in the universe: hydrogen.
The most popular technology uses a donut-shaped machine called a tokamak. To confine and control a highly energetic cloud of ions and electrons called plasma, the tokamak will use powerful magnets. The plasma will be heated to temperatures of over 100 million degrees Celsius inside the vacuum vessel, recreating the solar energy source on Earth.
Theoretically, everything is clear, so what is the problem that makes commercialization of this technology so difficult? The problem has technological and economic dimensions, mainly due to the high temperature at which the entire process takes place. Hot plasma tends to expand, so stabilizing it requires a powerful electromagnet, which requires enormous energy to power, which, for now, is much greater than what fusion can produce.
Project schedule
CFS is in the process of building a tokamak that it will be able to demonstrate net energy of fusion, which is a reaction that produces more energy than it consumes. The company hopes to produce its own the first plasma in which fusion reactions take place in 2026 and reach the net energy of fusion shortly thereafter.
The next step in harnessing the star’s energy for humanity’s purposes will be to build and operate a power plant to connect the fusion energy to the grid.
Before deciding on the location of the first power plant, the startup considered over 100 other locations around the world. Ultimately, the choice fell on the James River Industrial Center in Virginia.
The land is owned by Dominion Energy, which will lease it to CFS and provide technical assistance. The location was chosen for its growing economy, skilled workforce, focus on clean energy and ability to connect to the grid once the coal plant is retired, CFS said.
“In the early 2030s, all eyes will be on the Richmond region… as the birthplace of commercial fusion energy”, said Mumgaard.
CFS says the Virginia plant is expected to be the first of thousands it plans to connect to the grid in the future.
The information comes from CNN
