ITER: The world's most complex machine, explained

📢 #PortfolioNews: Our Deep Tech portfolio company First Light Fusion has introduced its new fusion concept FLARE (Fusion via Low-power Assembly and Rapid Excitation) – marking a step toward delivering affordable fusion energy at scale. In a recently published white paper, First Light Fusion has leveraged its 14+ years of experience to set out the FLARE approach – a reactor-compatible pathway for inertial fusion. ➡️ Why is this significant? FLARE has potential to overcome some of the greatest engineering challenges of inertial fusion machines, helping fusion to become a scaleable, clean energy solution. Mark Thomas, First Light Fusion’s CEO, says this approach opens the door to a new industrial sector: 🗣️“This is a pivotal moment not just for First Light, but for the future of energy. With the FLARE approach, we’ve laid out the world’s first commercially viable, reactor-compatible pathway to high gain inertial fusion – and it’s grounded in real science, proven technologies, and practical engineering.” Read more about FLARE in the comments.

Germany just unveiled Europe's first complete design for a commercial fusion power plant! Here's why this changes everything. Proxima Fusion's stellarator design promises to deliver clean energy by the 2030s, using the same process that powers the sun. Unlike traditional tokamak reactors, stellarators maintain steady magnetic fields without plasma disruptions - solving one of fusion's biggest engineering challenges. This isn't just another fusion experiment. The company plans to generate actual electricity for the grid, not just prove the science works. They're building on decades of research from Germany's Wendelstein 7-X stellarator, which already demonstrated the magnetic confinement concept. Fusion energy could finally give us unlimited clean power without radioactive waste or carbon emissions. No more dependence on fossil fuels, no more energy scarcity. Check out the full story here: https://lnkd.in/gBa5WY3f

🚀 A $1+ billion fusion deal just changed everything. Commonwealth Fusion Systems secured a massive power purchase agreement with Eni for their Arc reactor—expected to generate 400 megawatts by the early 2030s. This isn't just another energy deal. It's proof that fusion is moving from science fiction to commercial reality. Here's what makes this breakthrough possible: ✅ AI-powered plasma control systems ✅ Machine learning for reactor optimization ✅ Predictive algorithms preventing instabilities ✅ Real-time data processing at unprecedented scales Without AI, fusion would still be "30 years away" (as it has been for decades). But here's the bigger picture: We're witnessing the birth of truly limitless clean energy. Imagine powering entire cities with zero emissions, minimal waste, and fuel that's essentially infinite. The question isn't whether fusion will work—it's how fast we can scale it. What breakthrough in clean energy excites you most? And how do you think AI will accelerate our path to net zero? #FusionEnergy #CleanTech #ArtificialIntelligence #Sustainability #NetZero #Innovation

Vorsprung durch technik (*) In the energy sector, if there is one technology that has caught imaginations and been hard to crack that must be fusion. For decades, scientists (including me for x years**) have worked on understanding this complex physics problem and solve the required engineering. And yes the joke has it that fusion is 30 years away and will always be... One cannot deny that the landscape has changed significantly in the last 5-10 years. About 50 startups are now working on the topic and 12 have raised more than $100 millions (https://lnkd.in/e5C_BEfn). Commonwealth Fusion Systems just celebrated its 10-yr anniversary with some impressive investors joining their efforts (https://lnkd.in/eebFhUjd). On the science side, National Ignition Facility has seen strong progress with recent experiments reaching a gain over 4 (at the level of the fuel: https://lnkd.in/evb9ziPz) At the national scale, fusion is a priority topic for the US DoE (https://lnkd.in/e_uCw2kU), China is not making much noise but investing massively (https://lnkd.in/eyFm8uzS), the UK has announced £2.5 Bn over the next 5 years (https://lnkd.in/efqMJ6ta), and now Germany just announced a 2 billion plan for research, development and eyes the construction of a fusion reactor. Will this inspire France to be more ambitious? It's not there yet, but one of the issues of fusion has always been a lack of will and commitment... #fusion #energy #innovation #deeptech (*) Seemed appropriate since the German government announcement triggered this post... (**) I will leave you smart reader figure it out https://lnkd.in/eJXkVqWZ

#Fusion #Electricoty #US Commonwealth Fusion Systems has agreed to sell Italian energy company Eni more than $1 billion worth of power from its first fusion reactor. The power plant will be built outside of Richmond, Virginia, close to some of the highest densities of data centers in the country. The 400-megawatt fusion reactor, called Arc, is expected to open in the early 2030s Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) is a private company developing commercial fusion power plants. Spun out of MIT in 2018, the company has attracted significant funding, including from high-profile investors like Bill Gates and tech giants like Google and Nvidia. CFS is widely considered a leader in the private fusion industry. The company's approach centers on using advanced, high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets to create a tokamak device, a type of reactor that uses magnetic fields to contain and control a superheated plasma. SPARC is a demonstration-scale tokamak reactor designed in collaboration with MIT to prove the scientific viability of CFS's technology. The aim to be the first fusion device to produce net energy, meaning it will generate more fusion power than is consumed to sustain the reaction. Status: The reactor is being built at CFS's headquarters in Devens, Massachusetts. The company is on track to produce its first plasma in 2026/27 with the goal of demonstrating net power shortly after. Scientists first achieved a "net energy gain" in fusion in December 2022 at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), producing more fusion energy than the laser energy directed at the target. While this was a significant scientific breakthrough, commercially viable fusion power is still years away.

Interesting results from our recent SHINE Technologies poll – engineering challenges will be one of the primary issues in getting to a reliable Q>1 reactor. But potentially more challenging will be achieving production scales that bring the cost of fusion into competitiveness with other forms of energy generation. Fusion systems are more complex, operate in harsher environments, and use more exotic materials than any other energy system. It will take practice and investment at scale to bring costs down. #cleanenergy #nuclearenergy #fusion #neutrons

Fusion energy is finally moving from science fiction to engineering reality — and advanced materials are at the heart of this transformation. . From powerful high-temperature superconductors enabling compact tokamaks to diamond-coated laser fusion targets and tungsten walls built to withstand extreme plasmas, materials innovations are unlocking new possibilities for clean, limitless power. Over 50 start-ups are now racing to commercialize fusion, backed by billions in private investment. . Read the full article on Quantum Server Networks: 👉 https://lnkd.in/e9ieB2Qh #FusionEnergy #MaterialsScience #Superconductors #LaserFusion #MagneticConfinement #CleanEnergy #EnergyInnovation #Tokamak #NuclearFusion #AdvancedMaterials #QuantumServerNetworks

Exciting news from First Light Fusion on their FLARE approach to high-gain inertial fusion. Looking forward to seeing how this advances the field and contributes to the broader effort of unlocking fusion as a clean, sustainable energy source.

We're proud to work with our partners at First Light Fusion on their new approach to Fusion, FLARE - this builds on years of experience in Inertial Fusion, and being planned from the fusion scheme to the reactor makes it one of the most well thought out, exciting schemes for fusion energy production. There are plenty of variables that need to be explored, but importantly FLARE is based on compression through First Light's already established Amplifier technology, and seeks to negate a lot of the problems of ultra high power electrical drivers through use of longer pulses and hence lower voltages - putting it within much easier reach of present day technologies. Most of the unknowns around the scheme can be explored now with the correct physics at scales on pre-existing systems, and the fast ignition type system it employees is one where UK and European scientists have great experience. We're looking forwards to lots of new, ground breaking research to help lay the foundations for FLARE !

First Light Fusion unveils a reactor pathway to a gain of 1,000: First Light Fusion presents FLARE, an inertial fusion concept targeting a gain of 1,000, with development costs said to be well below current benchmarks thanks to existing technologies and a deployment model based on partnerships.