The Pacific Northwest — a hub for the fusion energy sector — has kicked off its annual Seattle Fusion Week.
Three years ago Scott Hsu, then the fusion lead for the U.S. Department of Energy, told the event’s attendees “the Seattle area has all the right ingredients to lead fusion into the future.”
The future hasn’t yet arrived as local physicists and engineers are still laboring to recreate the atom-smashing reactions that power the sun. If any companies succeed in doing this in a cost-effective manner, it would unlock an abundant source of safe, clean energy — the so-called “Holy Grail” of renewable power.
While serious technical and financial hurdles remain, efforts keep nudging the sector closer toward its goals.
Helion Energy this summer started construction in Central Washington on what it hopes will be the world’s first commercial fusion power plant. Zap Energy has hit new milestones with its fusion reactors and energy-capturing technologies. Avalanche Energy is exploring neutron production and building a test facility for the sector. General Fusion had layoffs earlier this year, but is making progress with its demo device.
Here’s a round up of Pacific Northwest companies working to harness fusion power, startups that aim to support the sector, and notable research institutions — most of whom are participating in Seattle Fusion Week, which is hosted by CleanTech Alliance.
Helion Energy
- Location: Everett and Malaga, Wash.
- Founded: 2013
- Funding: More than $1 billion from investors (plus additional funding if deadlines are met); $9 million from DOE
- Upcoming targets: Commercial power by 2028
- Technology: Magneto-inertial fusion, pulsed operation, field-reversed configuration
Helion’s initial 50 megawatt facility, dubbed Orion, will be located near the Columbia River. If all goes to plan — and much remains uncertain — the reactor’s electricity is earmarked for Microsoft data centers, and Helion has a separate deal to power Nucor steel.
The company recently signed a lease for 166,500 square feet of new space in Everett, the Puget Sound Business Journal reports. The city is home to Helion’s HQ and its seventh fusion prototype, a reactor called Polaris.
Zap Energy
- Location: Everett, Wash.
- Founded: 2017
- Funding: $330 million in venture capital; $13 million in DOE grants
- Upcoming targets: Commercial power by 2030
- Technology: Magnetic confinement fusion, pulsed operation, Z-pinch
Zap has built and is doing experiments with two fusion reactors (FuZE-Q and FuZE-3) and built its Century system, which includes key technologies for making and capturing power, namely liquid metal walls that absorb and transfer the heat produced by fusion, electrodes and energy-releasing capacitors.
In February, Zap hit a milestone for its DOE funding by operating the Century platform continuously for three hours, producing a series of 1,080 plasma shots without failure.
Avalanche Energy
- Location: Seattle and Richland, Wash.
- Founded: 2018, out of stealth in 2022
- Funding: $50 million from investors; $10 million from Washington state; $9 million from Department of Defense
- Upcoming targets: Technology demonstration in 2027
- Technology: Magneto-electrostatic fusion
Avalanche is taking a different track with its desktop-sized energy fusion device and working multiple angles for revenue generation.
That includes using its fusion machine for producing neutrons for commercial sale, and it has a Pentagon contract from the Defense Innovation Unit to develop technology for space propulsion and power generation. This summer, Avalanche landed a $10 million grant from the state to launch FusionWERX, a commercial-scale testing facility for fusion technologies in Eastern Washington.
General Fusion
- Location: Richmond, B.C.
- Founded: 2002
- Funding: $366 million from government grants and investors
- Upcoming targets: Commercial power on the grid by “the early to mid-2030s”
- Technology: Magnetized target fusion
In May, General Fusion’s CEO made a public plea for more funding and shared news of layoffs (The Globe and Mail put the number at a quarter of the company’s workforce). The company is building a prototype reactor in B.C. that will be half the size of its intended commercial device.
General Fusion has made multiple pivots over the years, including significant technology changes and a canceled demonstration project in the United Kingdom.
Additional fusion tech companies
In addition to the four Pacific Northwest companies working to build energy-producing fusion devices, three other ventures are offering supporting technologies and services.
Kyoto Fusioneering
- Location: Tokyo HQ; Seattle; Chalk River, Ontario
- Founded: 2019, and opened in Seattle in 2023
- Funding: $108 million
- Business: The development of fusion component technologies to aid others in building commercial reactors. The startup is building fusion test facilities in Japan and Ontario.
Altrusion
- Location: Sedro-Woolley, Wash.
- Founded: 2024
- Funding: None disclosed
- Business: Manufacturing precision-engineered components for fusion reactors and other energy technologies including advance nuclear and batteries, as well as transportation and semiconductors.
ExoFusion
- Location: Bellevue, Wash.
- Founded: 2022
- Funding: Seed round, undisclosed amount
- Business: Offering intellectual property and licensing of technology to other ventures trying to commercialize fusion power.
Academic and national labs
Idaho National Laboratory
- INL is part of the Fusion Innovative Research Engine (FIRE) collaboratives program, which launched in 2023 by the DOE.
- The lab leads Blanket Nuclear Testing (BNT) for FIRE and runs the Fusion Safety Program.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
- PNNL is working on new materials for fusion reactors that can withstand the damage caused by fusion reactions and is developing structural components for reactors. It’s also researching fusion-related computing.
University of Washington
- UW’s William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics is conducting plasma science, including research on fusion energy. UW fusion spinoffs include Zap and CTFusion, which shut down in 2023 and some of its co-founders took roles at Zap.
