DOE Unveils $180M Potential Funding for Fusion Energy Innovation Research Projects

The U.S. Department of Energy has allocated $180 million for research funding to support its newly launched Fusion Energy Strategy 2024 seeking to accelerate fusion energy commercialization through private sector partnerships. 

The DOE will open the funding opportunity through the Fusion Innovative Research Engine Collaboratives, which will be composed of teams advancing a fusion innovation ecosystem. The FIRE Collaboratives’ goal is to link the DOE’s Fusion Energy Sciences research and enabling framework with the expanding fusion industry requirements, Energy .gov reported Thursday.

The FIRE Collaboratives’ tasks include supporting the technology roadmaps of the eight company awardees under the DOE’s Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program. Accredited American universities and colleges, national laboratories, nonprofits and private entities are eligible for the FIRE Collaboratives funding program. 

Released during the second launching anniversary celebration of the U.S. Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial Fusion Energy at the White House, the DOE Fusion Energy Strategy 2024 seeks to fill the science and technology needs of a commercially viable pilot fusion plant. The strategy also aims to plan the deployment of an equitable, sustainable commercial fusion energy pilot plant and to create and leverage partnerships.

DOE Deputy Secretary David Turk expressed confidence that the United States “will stay in the lead” in developing fusion energy, given the public-private partnership exemplified in the first-ever fusion demonstration at the National Ignition Facility in the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.