General Fusion of Canada has secured more than USD100 million of financing to launch a programme to design, build and operate a prototype fusion demonstration plant, the company said.
The funding is made up of USD65m of Series E equity financing, led by Singapore-based investment company Temasek, together with the release of CAD50m (USD38m) in additional investment from Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund, a federal government funding programme targeted at Canada's industrial and technology sectors.
The company said in a statement that pursuit of “this next important step” towards commercially viable fusion energy reflects the growing global collaboration between public and private stakeholders in this transformative technology. “General Fusion has now attracted more than USD$200m in funding to develop its practical approach to fusion energy,” the statement said.
The funding is made up of USD65m of Series E equity financing, led by Singapore-based investment company Temasek, together with the release of CAD50m (USD38m) in additional investment from Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund, a federal government funding programme targeted at Canada's industrial and technology sectors.
The company said in a statement that pursuit of “this next important step” towards commercially viable fusion energy reflects the growing global collaboration between public and private stakeholders in this transformative technology. “General Fusion has now attracted more than USD$200m in funding to develop its practical approach to fusion energy,” the statement said.
General Fusion, which is based in Vancouver and has offices in Washington DC and London, was established in 2002 and is funded by a global syndicate of energy venture capital firms, industry leaders, and technology pioneers.
The company’s magnetised target fusion reactor system uses a sphere filled with molten lead-lithium that is pumped to form a vortex. A pulse of magnetically-confined plasma fuel is then injected into the vortex.
Around the sphere, pistons drive a pressure wave into the centre of the sphere, compressing the plasma to fusion conditions. This process is then repeated, while the heat from the reaction is captured in the liquid metal and used to generate electricity via a steam turbine.
