Fusion progress is moving from labs toward grid-scale ambitions, with milestones across magnets, plasma physics, and reactor prototypes. In 2023, CFS completed SPARC cryostat assembly, while TAE opened a headquarters housing its Norman reactor, and Helion began building its Polaris prototype in Everett. The page connects these industrial and research updates to the market outlook—plus the technical constraints that shape timelines and climate expectations.
Key Takeaways
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) completed SPARC cryostat assembly in 2023
- TAE Technologies opened new headquarters in Foothill Ranch, CA, housing Norman reactor in 2023
- Helion Energy began construction of Polaris prototype in Everett, WA, in 2023
- As of 2023, private investment in fusion energy companies worldwide has exceeded $6.2 billion cumulatively since 1990
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) raised $1.8 billion in its Series B round in December 2021, led by investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Google
- TAE Technologies secured $250 million in Series G funding in June 2022 from Google and Chevron, valuing the company at over $5 billion
- Fusion power market projected to reach $40 billion by 2030 per BloombergNEF
- Private fusion companies aim for first net electricity by 2028, with 7 targeting pilots by 2030
- Fusion could supply 10% of global energy by 2050, displacing 25 Gt CO2 annually
- ITER Organization completed 75% of project construction as of 2023
- National Ignition Facility conducted 500+ ignition-relevant experiments post-2022
- JET decommissioned after 40 years with final record experiments in 2023
- In 2022, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) achieved ignition with 3.15 MJ yield from 2.05 MJ laser energy input
- JET tokamak set new record of 59 MJ fusion energy in 5.2 seconds in December 2021
- Commonwealth Fusion Systems' SPARC magnet achieved 20 tesla field in 2021 using REBCO tape
In 2023, fusion advanced fast with major facility milestones, rising investment beyond $6.2 billion, and pilots targeting late decade delivery.
Related reading
01 · Category
Company Milestones27 stats
01
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) completed SPARC cryostat assembly in 2023
02
TAE Technologies opened new headquarters in Foothill Ranch, CA, housing Norman reactor in 2023
03
Helion Energy began construction of Polaris prototype in Everett, WA, in 2023
04
Zap Energy raised its employee count to 150 and expanded Seattle facilities in 2023
05
Tokamak Energy achieved first plasma in ST40 in April 2021 ahead of schedule
06
General Fusion acquired land in Vancouver for Lawson Machine 26 demo in 2022
07
Type One Energy Group spun out from ORNL with Infinity stellarator design in 2022
08
First Light Fusion installed Machine 4 at Oxford UK site in 2023
09
HB11 Energy partnered with Boeing for laser tech integration in 2023
10
Marvel Fusion established Munich lab with 10 PW laser in 2023
11
EX-Fusion secured Oxford Nanopore collaboration for diagnostics in 2023
12
Focused Energy announced Berlin headquarters and Series A plans in 2023
13
Commonwealth Fusion Systems partnered with MIT PSFC for SPARC in 2018 founding milestone
14
TAE Technologies surpassed 20,000 hours of plasma operation across devices by 2023
15
Helion Energy shipped prototype 6 to PPPL for testing in 2022
16
Zap Energy achieved first simultaneous Z-pinch plasmas in array in 2022
17
Tokamak Energy licensed HTS magnet tech from Oxford in 2023 expansion
18
General Fusion demonstrated magnetized target fusion compression in LM26 first run 2023
19
Type One Energy hired ex-Google X fusion lead as CEO in 2023
20
First Light Fusion published 100th peer-reviewed paper in 2023
21
HB11 Energy won Australian Clean Energy Award in 2023
22
Marvel Fusion joined IAEA fusion startup program in 2023
23
CFS installed first SPARC support structure at Devens site in 2024
24
TAE acquired majority stake in Energy Machines for ion beam tech in 2023
25
Helion signed power purchase agreement target for 2028 delivery
26
Zap Energy integrated with Pacific NW labs for neutron diagnostics in 2023
27
Tokamak Energy plans ST80 demo by 2026 with UKAEA support
Interpretation
Company Milestones Interpretation
Across these company milestones, major progress is clustering around 2022 and 2023 with multiple concrete build and facility steps, such as CFS completing SPARC cryostat assembly in 2023 and TAE, Helion, Zap Energy expanding in 2023, while earlier wins like Tokamak Energy’s April 2021 first plasma in ST40 and General Fusion’s 2022 Vancouver land acquisition set the momentum.
02 · Category
Investment And Funding30 stats
01
As of 2023, private investment in fusion energy companies worldwide has exceeded $6.2 billion cumulatively since 1990
02
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) raised $1.8 billion in its Series B round in December 2021, led by investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Google
03
TAE Technologies secured $250 million in Series G funding in June 2022 from Google and Chevron, valuing the company at over $5 billion
04
Helion Energy raised $500 million in Series E in November 2021, led by Sam Altman of OpenAI
05
Zap Energy obtained $160 million in Series C funding in October 2022 from Emerson Collective and others
06
Type One Energy Group raised $82.5 million in seed funding in 2023 from Lowercarbon Capital and others
07
Tokamak Energy secured £85 million ($112 million) in Series C extension in 2022
08
General Fusion raised CAD 300 million ($230 million) from Temasek and others in 2023
09
The U.S. Department of Energy allocated $46 million to eight fusion companies under INFUSE program in 2023
10
UK government announced £400 million ($510 million) for fusion R&D including STEP program in 2023
11
EU's Fusion for Energy received €5.6 billion budget for 2021-2027 under Horizon Europe
12
Japan's National Fusion Research Institute budget was ¥40 billion ($290 million) in FY2023
13
CFS partnered with Dominion Energy for $200 million investment in fusion plant development in 2023
14
First Light Fusion raised £25 million ($32 million) in 2023 from investors including IP Group
15
HB11 Energy secured AUD 10 million grant from Australian government in 2023
16
Marvel Fusion raised €20 million seed in 2022 from High-Tech Gründerfonds
17
EX-Fusion obtained £6.5 million from Oxford University Innovation in 2023
18
Cumulative fusion venture capital deals reached 82 by end of 2023
19
China invested ¥13.7 billion ($1.9 billion) in EAST tokamak upgrades by 2023
20
South Korea's K-DEMO project allocated KRW 1.2 trillion ($900 million) through 2030
21
Focused Energy raised $19 million seed in 2023 from 8090 Industries
22
Commonwealth Fusion Systems total funding exceeds $2 billion as of 2024
23
ARPA-E awarded $34 million to fusion projects in 2023 OPEN program
24
Canada pledged CAD 610 million for General Fusion's demo plant in 2023
25
Germany invested €200 million in Wendelstein 7-X stellarator upgrades in 2023
26
Private fusion companies grew from 30 in 2019 to 43 in 2023 per FIA
27
Total fusion startup funding in 2023 alone was $1.1 billion
28
Breakthrough Energy Ventures invested $300 million across fusion startups by 2023
29
Eni Next invested €50 million in CFS in 2020, part of €100m total fusion portfolio
30
Total global public fusion R&D spending reached $3.5 billion annually by 2023
Interpretation
Investment And Funding Interpretation
Investment and funding in fusion is accelerating, with private backers putting more than $6.2 billion into companies worldwide since 1990 and recent rounds ranging from $160 million to $1.8 billion, signaling strong and sustained financial momentum through 2023.
03 · Category
Market And Economic Projections28 stats
01
Fusion power market projected to reach $40 billion by 2030 per BloombergNEF
02
Private fusion companies aim for first net electricity by 2028, with 7 targeting pilots by 2030
03
Fusion could supply 10% of global energy by 2050, displacing 25 Gt CO2 annually
04
Levelized cost of fusion electricity (LCOE) projected at $50/MWh by 2035 per CFS
05
Global fusion R&D market valued at $25 billion in 2023, growing 15% CAGR to 2030
06
U.S. fusion pilot plant to cost $1-2 billion for 400 MW output by 2030s per DOE
07
ITER construction total cost estimated at €20 billion ($22B) through 2035 operations
08
Fusion fuel tritium market to grow to $1.5 billion by 2040 due to demand
09
16 private fusion firms plan commercial plants before 2035 per IAEA
10
Fusion energy could save $2.6 trillion in U.S. energy costs by 2050 per Fusion Industry Assoc
11
China plans 10 fusion pilots by 2040 with 2 GW capacity total
12
UK STEP program to deliver 200 MW demo by early 2040s at £2-3B cost
13
Japan aims for DEMO reactor operation in 2040s with 2 GW output
14
EU fusion roadmap targets prototype by 2050 supplying 25% EU electricity
15
Fusion supply chain market to hit $40B by 2035 including magnets and lasers
16
Helion projects Polaris net electricity at 50 MW for $1/MWh fuel cost
17
TAE Technologies forecasts Apollo reactor commercialization by 2030 at 100 MW
18
Global helium-3 mining market for fusion projected $10B by 2040 lunar economy
19
Fusion insurance market emerging with $500M premiums forecasted by 2030
20
43 private fusion companies worldwide as of 2023, up 43% from 2022
21
U.S. could host first commercial fusion plant by 2030 per Milken Institute
22
Fusion job creation projected at 500,000 globally by 2050 per IRENA-like models
23
SPARC pilot plant targets Q>10 with 140 MW fusion power output by 2026
24
World fusion capacity to reach 1 GW by 2035, scaling to 100 GW by 2050 per Wood Mackenzie
25
Tritium breeding blanket tech maturity at TRL 6 for ITER test blankets 2035
26
Private-public fusion partnerships to invest $10B through 2030 per IAEA
27
Fusion displaces $1T fossil fuel imports annually by 2040 per IEA scenarios
28
General Fusion targets LM26 Q>1 by 2025, commercial by 2030s at 100 MW/module
Interpretation
Market And Economic Projections Interpretation
Market and economic projections indicate that fusion is moving from early R and D to scalable power economics, with the fusion power market expected to reach $40 billion by 2030, while multiple companies target first net electricity by 2028 and aim for a $50 per MWh LCOE by 2035.
More related reading
04 · Category
Research Facilities And Experiments28 stats
01
ITER Organization completed 75% of project construction as of 2023
02
National Ignition Facility conducted 500+ ignition-relevant experiments post-2022
03
JET decommissioned after 40 years with final record experiments in 2023
04
Wendelstein 7-X completed Divertor Op2 campaign with 18 mini-physics campaigns
05
EAST sustained high-performance H-mode for over 400s at 100M C in 2023
06
KSTAR demonstrated non-inductive operation for 50s in 2023 high-beta plasmas
07
DIII-D performed 20,000 plasma discharges annually for edge-localized mode studies
08
WEST tokamak installed full active tungsten divertor in 2021 campaign
09
JT-60SA achieved first plasma and H-mode in October 2023
10
MAST-U spherical tokamak began operations with super-X divertor tests in 2023
11
Alcator C-Mod legacy data repository accessed 10,000 times yearly for AI modeling
12
ASDEX Upgrade tested ITER-like tungsten wall conditions in 2023
13
LHD helical device achieved 17m³ plasma volume record in 2023
14
HL-2M tokamak reached 1MA plasma current in first campaign 2021
15
SST-1 steady-state tokamak sustained plasma for 1000s in India 2023
16
RFX-mod reversed field pinch explored stellarator-like configs in 2023
17
Pegasus spheromak achieved 0.4 T field with transient coils in 2023
18
Levitated Dipole Experiment restarted at MIT for stability studies 2023
19
Madison Symmetric Torus ran 300,000 RFP shots for dynamo physics till 2023
20
ITER Toroidal Field coils #1-10 cold-tested at 5K successfully by 2023
21
NIF upgraded to 2.2 MJ laser energy capability post-ignition in 2023
22
SPARC site at Devens, MA, broke ground for fusion pilot plant in 2023
23
TAE's Norman hall thruster tested for p-B11 propulsion integration 2023
24
Zap Energy's Everett lab expanded to 20,000 sq ft for FuZE-Q in 2023
25
Tokamak Energy's UK campus hosts ST40 with 2MW ECRH heating
26
General Fusion's LM26 at Culham UK completed first liquid metal tests 2023
27
Helion's Everett facility features 50m vacuum tubes for Polaris
28
Global fusion workforce exceeds 25,000 researchers in 2023 across 50 countries
Interpretation
Research Facilities And Experiments Interpretation
Across major research facilities, experiment activity is accelerating and maturation is advancing, from ITER hitting 75% construction by 2023 to JET finishing a 40 year run with final record experiments in 2023 while devices like EAST and KSTAR push performance milestones such as 400 seconds at 100M C and 50 seconds of non-inductive, high beta operation.
05 · Category
Technological Achievements29 stats
01
In 2022, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) achieved ignition with 3.15 MJ yield from 2.05 MJ laser energy input
02
JET tokamak set new record of 59 MJ fusion energy in 5.2 seconds in December 2021
03
Commonwealth Fusion Systems' SPARC magnet achieved 20 tesla field in 2021 using REBCO tape
04
TAE Technologies' Norman reactor reached 75 million degrees C plasma in 2023
05
Zap Energy's FuZE-Q achieved neutron yield of 10^14 n/s without magnets in 2023
06
Tokamak Energy reached 100 million degrees C in ST40 spherical tokamak in 2022
07
General Fusion demonstrated 1 MJ plasma compression in LM26 machine in 2023
08
Wendelstein 7-X stellarator achieved 1 billion degrees C for 28 minutes in 2023
09
EAST tokamak sustained 120 million degrees C for 1056 seconds in 2022
10
KSTAR achieved 100 million degrees C for 30 seconds with tungsten divertor in 2021
11
Helion Energy's Polaris prototype compressed plasma to 100 keV ion temperatures in 2023
12
First Light Fusion's Machine 3 achieved 1 GW peak power implosion in 2022
13
HB11 Energy demonstrated laser-boron fusion with 10^8 neutrons per shot in lab tests 2023
14
Type One Energy's Infinity One stellarator design targets Q>10 with 8m minor radius
15
Marvel Fusion's laser-based inertial confinement uses nanocrystals for 10Hz repetition
16
EX-Fusion's Avalanche boron fusion aims for 10^16 neutrons/s with petawatt lasers
17
NIF repeated ignition with 3.5 MJ yield in August 2023
18
WEST tokamak tested full tungsten divertor surviving 30 MW/m² heat flux in 2023
19
DIII-D achieved 1.5 MA current in high-pressure plasma for 50ms in 2023
20
ITER's central solenoid passed final acceptance tests at 57,000 amps in 2023
21
SPARC's vacuum vessel manufacturing completed with 99.9% leak-tightness in 2024
22
TAE's Copernicus reactor design reaches 75 keV with p-B11 fuel for net electricity
23
Zap's sheared-flow Z-pinch stabilized plasma for over 5 microseconds in 2023
24
Tokamak Energy fused hydrogen isotopes at 20 keV in ST40
25
General Fusion's Ta machine reached 1M K with liquid metal liner
26
JT-60SA started operations with 5.5 T toroidal field in 2023
27
Commonwealth Fusion Systems demonstrated HTS magnet quench protection in 2023
28
Helion's Trenta prototype ran 10,000 pulses with 50% recovery efficiency
29
NIF's hohlraum achieved 1.4 MJ implosion symmetry in 2023
Interpretation
Technological Achievements Interpretation
These technological achievements show steady, measurable progress across major fusion approaches with breakthroughs like NIF reaching 3.15 MJ output from 2.05 MJ input and JET delivering 59 MJ over 5.2 seconds, alongside higher performance magnets and plasma temperatures reaching 100 million degrees Celsius and beyond.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Ryan Townsend. (2026, February 13). Fusion Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/fusion-industry-statistics
MLA
Ryan Townsend. "Fusion Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/fusion-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Ryan Townsend. 2026. "Fusion Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/fusion-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
57 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level