The sun gets its power from fusion energy technology that provides abundant and low-carbon energy. However, up to now, experiments in fusion hardly produced more power than it required for conducting the experiment itself.
What has been achieved?
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the USA in December 2022 achieved 3.15 megajoules of fusion energy from the consumption of 2.05 megajoules of laser energy. In real terms, the experiment needed over 100 times more energy from the grid and thus more energy was consumed than produced.
Who is racing?
Private fusion energy companies raised a record 4.48 billion dollars in 2026. Commonwealth Fusion Systems anticipates that the SPARC device will start functioning in late 2026 to 2027, having a plan to build a 400-megawatt plant in Virginia in the early 2030s.
What are the hurdles?
Public international fusion experiment ITER now targets achieving sci-fi completion only in 2034 with deuterium-tritium fusion in 2039. Despite the advancements made in fusion experiments in general, challenges related to the materials needed for fusion energy as well as to tritium breeding and the heat removal technology have yet to be resolved. Fusion energy will not replace renewable energy.
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