Commonwealth Fusion Systems has raised another $1 billion and appointed former Moderna finance chief Lorence Kim as its new chief financial officer. The developments have renewed speculation that the fusion energy company could eventually pursue a public listing, although CFS says it is not preparing for an imminent IPO.
The latest equity round brings CFS’s total capital raised since its founding in 2018 to approximately $4 billion. New investors include pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and other large institutions, according to the company.
Former Moderna CFO Joins CFS
Kim joined Moderna as chief financial officer in 2014 and helped take the biotechnology company public in December 2018. He later returned to investment roles, including co-founding life sciences investment firm Ascenta Capital.
CFS appointed Kim as it moves from funding an experimental fusion machine towards financing its first commercial power plant. Chief Executive Bob Mumgaard said Kim would help the company manage the financial demands of bringing fusion technology to market.
Kim compared the current state of fusion with the mRNA industry a decade ago, when the underlying science had advanced further than commercial adoption. However, he said the fundraising and his appointment should not be interpreted as signs of an immediate public offering.
SPARC Remains the Main Technical Test
CFS is constructing SPARC, a demonstration machine in Devens, Massachusetts, that will test whether its high-field superconducting magnet technology can produce net fusion energy.
The company currently expects SPARC to achieve net energy generation in 2027. This means the fusion reactions would produce more energy than is delivered directly to the plasma, a threshold commonly expressed as Q greater than one.
SPARC will not supply electricity to the grid. Its results are intended to validate the physics and engineering needed for CFS’s larger ARC power plant.
Commercial Plant Planned for Virginia
CFS has selected Chesterfield County, Virginia, as the site of its first commercial plant, known as the Fall Line Fusion Power Station. The planned ARC reactor would generate approximately 400 megawatts and is expected to begin supplying electricity in the early 2030s.
Google has agreed to purchase 200 megawatts from the plant, equal to half its planned output. Italian energy company Eni has signed a separate power agreement worth more than $1 billion.
CFS has also applied to connect the plant to the PJM electricity network and begun work on local approvals. Building ARC will still require billions of dollars and several years of development, leaving the company to consider a mix of private capital, project financing and potentially public markets.
Featured image credits: Flickr
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