Another target is set for commercial nuclear fusion power: The Tennessee Valley Authority and Type One Energy have a cooperative agreement for a potential commercial plant.
TVA and Type One announced Feb. 11 that the project could go online as early as the mid-2030s.
This would put it slightly behind another effort — Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ collaboration with Dominion Energy, which aims to get the world’s first commercial fusion reactor online by the early 2030s in Virginia. (See Oklo, Commonwealth Fusion Unveil Ambitious Nuclear Plans.)
The commercially viable fusion reactor is a goal that has eluded researchers for decades but that still is being pursued closely: The analytics firm ABI Research recently calculated third-quarter 2024 investment in fusion at a record $7 billion.
Type One’s agreement with TVA calls for “Infinity Two,” a 350-MWe pilot fusion plant, to provide base load generation for the Tennessee Valley region, potentially repurposing retired TVA fossil-burning power plant infrastructure.
It expands on Project Infinity, which was announced in early 2024 and calls for a prototype “Infinity One” reactor to be placed at the site of TVA’s Bull Run Fossil Plant, an 865-MW coal-fired facility retired in late 2023.
Type One and TVA said in a news release they will collaborate on siting studies, environmental reviews, licensing and financing for Infinity Two.
Also, TVA’s Power Service Shops in Alabama will assist Type One as it shapes its supply chain and develops modular manufacturing and assembly techniques. TVA in turn will “benefit from the subsequent scaling of fusion energy on a global basis, following the successful deployment of Infinity Two.”
Type One CEO Christofer Mowry said the agreement allows his company to use TVA’s existing infrastructure and expertise rather than duplicating it as it goes through phases of research and development.
“Instead, we can focus on completing the design of Infinity Two and testing it with the Infinity One prototype in TVA’s Bull Run plant. The ability for us to focus on developing and delivering the core stellarator technology materially derisks our path to fusion power plant commercialization.”
Also Feb. 11, Commonwealth Fusion and Type One announced a licensing agreement for Type One to use Commonwealth Fusion’s high-temperature superconducting cable technology in development of its fusion magnets.
Both companies have first-to-market aspirations, but with different reactors. Commonwealth Fusion is developing a tokamak reactor, and Type One is going with the more complex stellarator design.
They said in a news release their agreement has benefits beyond the Infinity Two project: It gives Commonwealth Fusion a new market for its cable technology and gives Type One access to demonstrated background technologies and capabilities.
As with the TVA agreement, the deal saves Type One the time, risk and expense of re-creating what Commonwealth Fusion already has.
Commonwealth Fusion CEO Bob Mumgaard said this would accelerate Type One’s development efforts.
“At CFS, we are confident in our approach using magnetic confinement in tokamaks, but we also want to support companies pursuing other promising magnetic confinement applications given the scale necessary to address the urgent transition to fusion energy and the transformative nature of high-field magnets,” he added.
