Google to Purchase Half of First Commercial Fusion Plant Output

Google announced an agreement to purchase half the output from Commonwealth Fusion Systems' (CFS) first commercial fusion energy plant. This represents Google's largest direct corporate offtake agreement for fusion energy.

The agreement involves Google off-taking 200MW of carbon-free energy from the plant, which is slated for development in Chesterfield, Virginia. Google is also making a second capital investment in CFS to support the company's efforts toward commercializing its fusion technology.

Fusion involves heating light atomic nuclei to over 100 million degrees Celsius to create plasma, leading to fusion and the release of energy for carbon-free electricity. CFS aims to achieve fusion using high-temperature superconductor magnets arranged in a tokamak design, which allows for a more compact and commercially viable approach. This technology is being demonstrated in CFS's SPARC machine, under assembly in Massachusetts.

Google's initial R&D investment in CFS was in 2021 for SPARC's development. The new investment will support efforts to bring CFS's first commercial plant, named ARC, online. Google also has the option to purchase power from future CFS plants. The company indicated this partnership aims to help catalyze the commercial fusion market.

Google has a history of clean energy procurement, having secured over 22GW of clean energy since 2010. This has contributed to a 12% reduction in its data center energy emissions.