In 2024, fusion technology will finally make the transition from basic research to commercial application. The reason for that will be the construction and completion of the first commercial fusion demonstrators. These cutting edge facilities are smaller than fusion power plants. For example, a laser-based fusion demonstrator may use five to ten laser beams, while a commercial power plant may use several hundred. However, they have a crucial role – to prove that fusion technology works on a small scale, paving the way for the construction of larger fusion power plants. In 2024, they will do just that, begin building devices that will finally achieve the elusive goal of energy gain – in other words, delivering more energy than the amount needed to start the fusion process. Achieving this milestone is a critical step in addressing the sharply increasing global energy demand, as fusion energy has the potential to provide an abundant, carbon-free source of power.

In 2022, researchers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California became the first to experimentally demonstrate that a fusion process can indeed produce a net energy gain. This experiment used high-power lasers to deposit energy into a small fuel target – a millimeter-sized capsule containing frozen deuterium and tritium – creating the conditions for fusion. The lasers delivered 2.05 megajoules of energy to the target, resulting in a fusion energy output of 3.1 megajoules. It was a science experiment—unlike fusion demonstrators, the NIF was not designed to operate continuously like a power plant. However, because of this scientific breakthrough, nuclear fusion has attracted considerable research, political and investor attention in recent months.

National fusion strategies have been developed in the US, UK, Japan, Germany and other countries to promote research and testing of the technology. Currently, the US and the UK are leading the race: The US Department of Energy funds fusion research with an annual budget of about $1.4 billion and encourages private companies to accelerate commercialization. The UK similarly promotes public-private partnership by creating a fusion cluster with universities and companies combining their expertise. High-profile investors are recognizing the opportunity of fusion technology, with more than $5 billion of private capital flowing into fusion companies in the past two years.

The initiatives are paying off: Several fusion companies worldwide, including Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Helion Energy and General Fusion have announced plans to start building facilities in 2024 to demonstrate their technological approach. According to the latest report by the Fusion Industry Association, more than half of all fusion companies believe that fusion energy will be delivered to the public power grid during the 2030s. In May 2023, Microsoft signed a power purchase agreement with Helion Energy to ensure a supply of fusion-generated electricity by 2028. In August 2023, Marvel Fusion (a fusion energy firm I co-founded) announced a $150 million partnership with Colorado State University, the largest public-private partnership to date, to build the only laser facility that adapted to a commercial laser-based fusion technology and the most powerful short-pulse laser system in the world. With these advances and commitments in place, 2024 will show that fusion is no longer a distant dream, but a feasible future of clean and sustainable energy.