With investment flowing, fusion energy’s long shot has become a gold rush

Big money has followed the siren call of technological advances in fusion power and its promise of clean, limitless energy

Fusion energy’s long shot has become a gold rush

Fusion is the most exciting form of energy because it is abundant and would mean everyone has access to affordable electricity. However, fusion is monumentally difficult to do at a commercial scale.

The history of nuclear fusion power is littered with disappointments. Since 1952, scientists have been conducting fusion reactions in an attempt to recreate how the sun generates energy. Time and again, the massive reactors consumed more energy than was produced. “We’ve been saying fusion is 30 years away for 60 years,” says Jason Donev, physics professor and associate director of the new energy-science major at the University of Calgary.

But in 2022, a controlled fusion reaction conducted in a California laboratory produced – for a fraction of a second – net-positive energy, thus turning the dream of endless, carbon-free energy into a possibility. A handful of start-ups intend to capitalize on that possibility, including B.C.-based General Fusion. After more than two decades of research, General Fusion says its “first of a kind” fusion power plant will be generating electricity by 2035.

Venture capital has responded enthusiastically to the new arrivals, with money surging into the space. In 2025, fusion start-ups raised $2.6 billion (all values in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted) according to the Fusion Industry Association.

Earlier this year, General Fusion announced that it will go public as part of an intended merger with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The B.C. company has raised more than $400 million to date, including support from governments in Canada, the United States and Britain. General Fusion was valued at $600 million prior to the transaction; the deal with Spring Valley would provide it with up to $335 million in additional funding.

Even Trump Media & Technology Group, whose core business until now has been the president’s social media platform Truth Social, is embracing fusion. Last December, the firm revealed it was merging with TAE Technologies, an energy company with plans to begin construction on the first utility-scale fusion power plant this year. The transaction values TAE at approximately $3 billion.

Likewise, Microsoft and Google, billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, and the oil company Chevron have all started investing heavily in fusion energy companies, including TAE.

In France, a multinational coalition is building an enormous fusion reactor called ITER (the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) at an estimated cost of €13 billion ($21 billion Canadian). ITER will use 50 megawatts of heating power to generate 500 megawatts of electricity – theoretically enough to power some 250,000 homes. ITER is tracking to be operational in the late 2030s, although for demonstration purposes only.