Energy Transition & Sustainable Innovation

Google and CFS ink Partnership Agreement to Commercialize Fusion Energy

Google
  • In its first commercial commitment to fusion, Google signs offtake agreement for 200 megawatts (MW) of clean fusion power from CFS’s inaugural ARC power plant in Chesterfield County, Virginia.
  • Google, an investor in CFS since 2021, also is increasing its investment stake in the Devens, Massachusetts-based company.
  • The commitment to CFS’ first ARC plant and the additional corporate investment are part of a strategic partnership in which Google has the option to purchase power from future plants.
  • The agreement reinforces CFS’ global leadership in developing commercial fusion power — a technology that promises to be transformative in the face of accelerating growth in energy demand.

Google and Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) today announced a new global milestone, a bold partnership to develop, deploy and scale clean, secure fusion power.

Google signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for 200 megawatts (MW) of electricity from CFS’ inaugural ARC power plant, which CFS expects will put power on the grid in the early 2030s, in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Google also has the option to offtake power from additional ARC power plants. An investor in CFS since 2021, Google also is deepening its relationship with CFS by increasing its stake in the company. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

“By entering into this agreement with CFS, we hope to help prove out and scale a promising pathway toward commercial fusion power. We’re excited to make this longer-term bet on a technology with transformative potential to meet the world’s future energy demand, and support CFS in their efforts to reach the scientific and engineering milestones needed to get there,” said Michael Terrell, Head of Advanced Energy at Google.

The agreement validates that CFS is developing one of the most promising paths to commercial fusion power in the coming decade. CFS expects that its Chesterfield County ARC power plant will be the first grid-scale fusion power plant in the world, exemplifying the company’s scientific approach to developing fusion power; its application of key advances in high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets; and its execution velocity in constructing its fusion machine, SPARC, in Devens, Massachusetts.

“Fusion power is within our grasp thanks in part to forward-thinking partners like Google, a recognized technology pioneer across industries,” said Bob Mumgaard, CEO and Co-founder of CFS. “Our strategic deal with Google is the first of many as we move to demonstrate fusion energy from SPARC and then bring our first power plant online. We aim to demonstrate fusion’s ability to provide reliable, abundant, clean energy at the scale needed to unlock economic growth and improve modern living – and enable what will be the largest market transition in history.”

Since fusion power doesn’t have the fuel or natural resource constraints of other energy sources, it could become a transformational energy source. It harnesses the process that powers the sun by capturing the energy released when smaller atoms like hydrogen fuse together, allowing it to reliably supply clean, round-the-clock power. This technology will help meet unprecedented electricity demand growth from new industry, from electrification of transportation, homes, and businesses, and from the increasing use of artificial intelligence and other advanced computing.

The agreement between Google and CFS is anchored in CFS’ SPARC achieving net fusion energy, known as Q>1. Located at CFS’ Massachusetts headquarters, SPARC is a high magnetic field, compact version of a fusion device called a tokamak, whose design has been validated by multiple research papers and peer-reviewed by independent scientists. It is the precursor to ARC, which is designed to generate 400 megawatts of net electricity, a level comparable to a utility-scale natural gas power plant’s output.

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