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Google Signs to Buy Power from Planned Nuclear Fusion Plant

Prime Highlights

  • Google agrees to buy 200MW of power from Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ proposed fusion plant in Virginia.
  • This is the second such electricity offtake deal in the nascent nuclear fusion energy industry.

Key Facts

  • The fusion plant, which is set to come on line in the early 2030s, hopes to be the first grid-fed fusion facility.
  • Google once before participated in CFS’s record $1.8 billion funding round in 2021.
  • The acquisition marks increasing technology industry interest in clean, long-term energy sources for AI data centers.

Key Background

Google has entered into a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) to purchase 200 megawatts of electricity from an as-yet-undeveloped fusion power plant. The plant, scheduled to go live in the early 2030s in Virginia, would be a milestone for the nuclear fusion industry—potentially the globe’s first fusion facility to feed electricity into the grid.

Fusion energy, in contrast to nuclear fission, is the process of joining atoms, not dividing them, replicating the process that heats the sun. Its attraction is the possibility of generating carbon-free electricity with no long-lived radioactive waste. But the technology has remained elusive, as yet no experiment has produced more energy than it used.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems, ranked among the leading edge private fusion players, is already building a demonstration plant in Massachusetts, slated for start-up in 2027. Its Virginia facility is also part of its mission to commercialize fusion power by the end of this decade.

The deal with Google is more than just speculation—it is a binding contract that commits the tech giant to buying power when the plant is up and running. Bob Mumgaard, CEO and co-founder of CFS, underscored the seriousness of the deal, describing it as a “full PPA” and an important step towards de-risking fusion development for investors and supply chains.

This development shows an increasing tendency among technology firms to lock up steady, clean energy supplies as their data centers, which fuel sophisticated technologies such as artificial intelligence, use more and more electricity. Microsoft also joined another fusion startup, Helion, in a similar step to buy power from a planned 50MW fusion facility by 2028.

Google is also stepping up the investment in CFS in its follow-up funding round and has an option to buy power from subsequent CFS plants. The firm called the deal a strategic long-term wager on fusion’s revolutionary ability to address global energy needs in a sustainable manner.