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As the world races to add more power plants to satiate AI’s thirst for electricity, investors have been plowing money into nuclear fusion, the pie-in-the-sky technology that appears to be inching its way toward commercial viability.
The latest exhibit: Tokamak Energy, a UK-based startup that’s working to refine its squeezed-doughnut approach to fusion power. The company announced Tuesday that it had raised $125 million to continue development of the reactor design and expand its TE Magnetics division.
Tokamak Energy has been working on fusion since 2009, when it was spun out from the UK Atomic Energy Authority. The startup is pursuing what’s known as magnetic confinement fusion, which uses magnets to corral searing-hot plasma inside a reactor. This forces the plasma into a doughnut shape, but unlike other approaches, Tokamak Energy’s spherical tokamak takes that doughnut and squeezes it at the circumference. Its ST40 prototype generated a record-setting 100 million degree C plasma in 2022.
Tokamak Energy is aiming to operate a pilot power plant starting by 2034, the Telegraph reported, which puts it approximately on par with several other fusion startups, though several years behind frontrunners like Commonwealth Fusion Systems.
To help bridge the gap until commercial fusion revenue rolls in, Tokamak Energy launched a division, TE Magnetics, to sell its expertise in high-temperature superconducting magnets, a business model that’s becoming more widespread among fusion startups.
The company has raised a total $275 million from private investors, including this week’s raise, which was led by East X Ventures and Lingotto Investment Management, which manages the Agnelli family fortune, with participation from British Patient Capital, BW Group, Furukawa Electric Company, and Sabanci Climate Ventures.
Tim De Chant is a senior climate reporter at TechCrunch. He has written for a wide range of publications, including Wired magazine, the Chicago Tribune, Ars Technica, The Wire China, and NOVA Next, where he was founding editor. De Chant is also a lecturer in MIT’s Graduate Program in Science Writing, and he was awarded a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT in 2018, during which time he studied climate technologies and explored new business models for journalism. He received his PhD in environmental science, policy, and management from the University of California, Berkeley, and his BA degree in environmental studies, English, and biology from St. Olaf College.
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