Google signs up for power from future fusion plant

As well as what Google describes as the largest direct corporate purchase agreement for fusion energy, the strategic partnership will also give the global information company options for future offtake agreements from future plants.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) was founded in 2018 as a spinout from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It is using high temperature superconducting magnets developed in collaboration with MIT to build smaller and lower-cost tokamaks than those typically used in fusion science research, and is currently building the SPARC prototype fusion machine at its headquarters in Devens, Massachusetts.

The 400 MW ARC plant, which CFS intends to build at Chesterfield County, Virginia, aims to be the first grid-scale fusion power plant in the world, the company says, with the goal of putting power on the grid in the early 2030s.

Google, an investor in CFS since 2021, has confirmed it is making a second capital investment in CFS, without disclosing financial terms.

Fusion holds "huge potential" as a clean, abundant and inherently safe energy source, Google's Head of Advanced Energy Michael Terrell said in a blog post. Commercialising fusion is "immensely challenging" but "if it works, it could change the world by providing a more secure and clean energy future", he said.

"We hope our offtake agreement for CFS’s ARC will add momentum to these efforts, and as part of our agreement we have the option to purchase power from future plants. Scaling any type of new technology requires taking some bold steps, and first-of-a-kind power plants are no different. That’s why Google and CFS are eager to use ARC to catalyse the commercial fusion market," Terrell said.

“Fusion power is within our grasp thanks in part to forward-thinking partners like Google, a recognised technology pioneer across industries,” CFS co-founder and CEO Bob Mumgaard said. "Our strategic deal with Google is the first of many as we move to demonstrate fusion energy from SPARC and then bring our first power plant online."

The agreement between Google and CFS is anchored on the SPARC prototype achieving net fusion energy, known as Q>1 (Q is the fusion energy gain factor, so Q>1 means that amount of fusion energy produced is greater than the energy input.)

Google is a signatory of the Large Energy Users Pledge supporting the goal of at least tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050. It has signed several agreements to support advanced nuclear projects: in October 2024 it signed an agreement with Kairos Power to purchase power from its fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature small modular reactors, with a fleet of up to 500 MW of capacity by 2035, and is also providing early-stage capital for Elementl Power to prepare three potential sites in the USA for advanced nuclear power projects.