Virginia site selected to host fusion power plant

Wednesday, 18 December 2024

Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) – a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) spinout company – said it has reached an agreement with Dominion Energy Virginia to provide non-financial collaboration, including development and technical expertise as well as leasing rights for the proposed site at the James River Industrial Park. Dominion Energy Virginia currently owns the proposed site.

CFS said it conducted a global search for the site of its first commercial fusion power plant, known as ARC.

“This is a historic moment,” said CFS co-founder and CEO Bob Mumgaard. “In the early 2030s, all eyes will be on the Richmond region and more specifically Chesterfield County, Virginia, as the birthplace of commercial fusion energy. Virginia emerged as a strong partner as they look to implement innovative solutions for both reliable electricity and clean forms of power. We are pleased to collaborate with Dominion Energy.”

Dominion Energy Virginia President Edward Baine said: “Commonwealth Fusion Systems is the clear industry leader in advancing the exciting energy potential of fusion. Our customers’ growing needs for reliable, carbon-free power benefits from as diverse a menu of power generation options as possible, and in that spirit, we are delighted to assist CFS in their efforts.”

CFS is currently working to build the SPARC prototype fusion machine at its headquarters in Devens, Massachusetts. It is described as a compact, high-field, net fusion energy device that would be the size of existing mid-sized fusion devices, but with a much stronger magnetic field. It is predicted to produce 50-100 MW of fusion power, achieving fusion gain greater than 10.

SPARC will pave the way for a first commercially viable fusion power plant called ARC, which will generate about 400 MWe – enough to power large industrial sites or about 150,000 homes. ARC is expected to deliver power to the grid in the early 2030s.

Since CFS’s founding in 2017, it has collaborated with researchers in MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PFSC) on a range of initiatives, from validating the underlying plasma physics for the first demonstration machine to breaking records with a new kind of magnet to be used in commercial fusion power plants.

“This will be a watershed moment for fusion,” said CFS co-founder Dennis Whyte, the Hitachi America Professor of Engineering at MIT. “It sets the pace in the race toward commercial fusion power plants. The ambition is to build thousands of these power plants and to change the world.”