Key facts
- Pacific Fusion is constructing a new facility in New Mexico to advance commercial fusion power.
- The company aims to achieve 'net facility gain,' where the machine produces more energy than it consumes.
- The new facility will test Pacific Fusion's unique approach using pulsed electricity to create a magnetic field for fusion.
- Pacific Fusion plans to reach net facility gain by 2030 and commercial operation by the mid-2030s.
- The company has raised over $1 billion in funding and is a relatively young entrant in the fusion sector.
Pacific Fusion has begun construction on a new facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, marking a significant step toward commercializing fusion power. The company aims to achieve 'net facility gain'—where the fusion machine produces more energy than it consumes—by 2030, with a goal of operating a commercial power plant in the mid-2030s.
Carrie von Muench, co-founder and COO of Pacific Fusion, stated that this facility represents a major advancement for commercial fusion power and that, to their knowledge, no similar facility is under construction in the U.S.
While fusion startups have progressed rapidly, achieving net facility gain remains a key challenge. The National Ignition Facility has demonstrated that controlled fusion reactions can yield more energy than they consume, but it has not yet reached the level required to power the entire facility. Pacific Fusion's commercial-scale reactor will need to generate approximately five times more energy than its demonstration system to account for the additional equipment required for a power plant.
The new facility will test Pacific Fusion's unique approach, which involves using intense, synchronized electrical pulses to create a magnetic field around a small fuel target, compressing it until fusion occurs. The demonstration facility is designed to perform a few 'shots' daily, a stark contrast to the one shot per second required for a commercial power plant. Each pulse is generated by 156 pulser modules, with earlier tests of a one-third-scale module successfully releasing 440 gigawatts of peak power in 80 nanoseconds.
Beyond demonstrating net facility gain, the new campus will also accommodate high-yield fusion experiments for national security purposes. According to Keith LeChien, co-founder and CTO, each pulse from the new system will yield around 100 megajoules, about ten times the output of the National Ignition Facility. LeChien also noted that while China is developing similar facilities, Pacific Fusion intends to be the first to deliver them globally.
Founded in 2023, Pacific Fusion is a relatively young but well-funded company, having secured over $1 billion in a milestone-based Series A funding round. This substantial capital allows for long-term planning and development without frequent fundraising.
The company faces competition from other well-funded startups like Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Helion Energy, Proxima Fusion, and Inertia Enterprises, all striving to connect fusion power plants to the grid by the mid-2030s.