(Bloomberg) -- Funding for nuclear fusion startups dipped to $900 million in the last year even as most of the companies expect to build a commercial power plant by the mid-2030s, according to an annual survey.
The industry has received a total of $7.1 billion to date, according to the Fusion Industry Association’s 2024 report. Investment has slowed after the industry got $1.4 billion in the 12 months through mid-2023, a boom period following a critical research breakthrough in December 2022.
Confidence among fusion entrepreneurs, however, may be increasing, said Andrew Holland, the trade group’s chief executive officer. Three of the companies surveyed predicted they will start delivering electricity to the grid by the end of the decade, and 22 others said that milestone will come between 2030 and 2035. A year ago, only 19 fusion developers said they expected to be producing grid power by 2035.
“Companies are more optimistic than they have been in the past,” Holland said in an interview. “Investors are still writing checks and supporting companies that are making progress.”
The industry is growing significantly, with more than 4,000 people employed by private companies now, up from about 1,000 in 2021.
Current nuclear power plants are based on fission, splitting atoms in a process that generates energy. Fusion is the opposite, fusing atoms together to release energy — the same process that powers stars. While companies are making progress, building a working system remains a significant engineering challenge
“Fusion is not easy,” said Holland. “You can’t do this on the cheap.”
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
