CFS secures US$1bn deal with Eni to deliver fusion energy

INTERNATIONAL oil and gas company Eni has agreed to purchase US$1bn worth of electricity from Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), generated by its upcoming 400 MW ARC fusion power plant in Virginia, US.

It marks the second agreement CFS has secured for the plant, following an earlier deal with tech giant Google for 200 MW of electricity from the site. Both companies are existing partners of CFS, with Eni one of the company’s first investors in 2018.

The ARC plant will be CFS’s first commercial plant and according to the company, will look “just like” the 2,000 natural gas plants already built in the US.

CFS said: “At CFS, we’re incredibly motivated to get this fusion power onto the grid, at scale, as soon as possible, not just for the benefit of our business but for the benefit of everybody on the planet. This new deal with Eni helps secure that future for fusion energy.”

Going commercial

Although fusion energy remains in the experimental phase, with ongoing research into sustaining its output, many private companies are already making commercial plans.

US fusion company Helion recently broke ground on Orion, its first commercial plant, set to connect to the grid by 2028. The project builds on six generations of tested prototypes, including one that achieved a milestone by heating fusion fuel to 100m°C.

CFS has acknowledged that its technology has not yet commercialised, despite the deals with Eni and Google.

However, the company says its approach is supported by peer-reviewed research identifying the tokamak as the most effective type of fusion machine, along with the use of high-temperature superconducting magnets to enhance power sustainability.

The tokamak is widely regarded as the most advanced fusion technology in use today and is the primary research focus of both the UK Atomic Energy Authority and the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). It operates by confining hydrogen isotopes – specifically deuterium and tritium – facilitating their fusion of hydrogen isotopes, namely deuterium and tritium, and converting it into thermal power to generate electricity.

CFS has made significant advances in its fusion prototypes and magnet technology, demonstrating last year that its Central Solenoid Model Coil (CSMC) magnet could store a record-breaking 3.7 megajoules of energy – the equivalent of five full-size pickup trucks driving at 60 mph.

The company is also using its research to construct a commercial-scale tokamak at its Massachusetts headquarters, which it says will employ the same technology planned for the ARC power plant. Grid connection is expected by the early 2030s