Mark Megahan
Commonwealth Fusion Systems is betting billions of dollars that they can get the final bugs worked out. If all goes well, the worlds first commercial generating station of its kind will plug into the grid “by the early 2030s.” Getting regulatory approval is going to be an uphill battle because the Pentagon is expected to be extremely skeptical of what would happen if it went foom. The site has already been chosen in Virginia.
Fusion on the grid
Richmond, Virginia, is slated to get “the world’s first grid-scale nuclear fusion power plant.” It’s a design of the “tokamak” variety and apparently doesn’t have any funky fractal plasma pathing, as some experimental models have explored. The other type that works is called a “stellarator.”
CFS earned the distinction as “one of the largest and most-hyped” companies devoted to the cutting edge technology. That’s because they’re one of the first to demonstrate the elusive holy grail of “ignition.”
The futuristic power source begins with clean and plentiful hydrogen. Once the fusion reaction is sparked into action, it becomes self-sustaining.
Developing the proper vessel to allow the reaction to not only continue but produce an excess of energy has been a nearly insurmountable challenge. CFS made it happen.
Once operational, “the plant will be able to plug into the grid and produce 400 megawatts.” According to CEO Bob Mumgaard, that’s “enough to power around 150,000 homes.” Nothing “occurs overnight in fusion,” Mumgaard relates.
They’re building the equipment at the site of a defunct coal plant to take advantage of the existing grid hookup equipment.
Plasma by 2026
Getting the equipment functioning will take time. They’ll be running it on the pilot light until creating “the superheated cloud of charged gas in which fusion reactions happen.” They’re projecting plasma ignition in 2026.
Hopefully, the reactor will start producing an excess of energy “shortly afterward.” Getting it up to running temperature will take longer. They plan to hook it to the grid by the early 2030s.
They picked Richmond “for its growing economy, skilled workforce, clean energy focus and the ability it offered to connect into the grid after the retirement of a coal plant.”
Ten years from now, Mumgaard promises, “all eyes will be on the Richmond region as the birthplace of commercial fusion energy.”
Another reason for choosing the location is because “Virginia is also the world’s largest data center market, a sector that requires huge and growing amounts of energy.”
The drain is expected to triple by the time the fusion plant comes online. The great news is that it won’t produce any nasty radioactive waste. That means once the bugs are worked out with this first one, thousands more can follow.
