Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ objective is nothing less than delivering an urgent transition to fusion energy.
The Devens-based fusion-energy company is well on its way to that objective as it powers up one of the most technologically sophisticated machines on earth.
Fusion energy holds the potential to revolutionize the U.S. energy landscape by providing a near-limitless, zero-carbon, 24/7 baseload power source. It eliminates reliance on fossil fuels while powering growing needs, such as AI data centers.
CFS was spun out of MIT in 2018, combining decades of fusion research with the private sector’s speed and agility. Eight years and almost $3 billion worth of investment later (CFS may be the best-funded startup company that Massachusetts has ever seen), the company is on track to build commercial fusion power plants while working with policymakers and suppliers to make fusion energy available globally.
Now, CFS is the recipient of AIM’s Excellence in Manufacturing Award. I presented the award during a visit to CFS’ Devens headquarters on May 28.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems is testament to the potential for clean-technology companies to drive the Massachusetts economy and address our pressing energy and environmental needs.
The art and science of manufacturing built the Massachusetts economy, from Charles Goodyear producing the first vulcanized tire in Woburn in 1813 to bioscience companies like Takeda producing state-of-the-art medicines in the commonwealth today. Though manufacturing firms employ about half the number of people they did three decades ago, the sector remains a critical conduit for economic opportunity and advancement.
It’s one of the reasons that AIM devotes much of its public-policy efforts to supporting manufacturers in areas such as taxation, sustainability, energy, and regulation.
Approximately 230,000 people work at manufacturing companies here, 7% of the commonwealth’s total non-farm payroll. Manufacturing is expected to contribute $64 billion in economic output this year – 9.6% of the Massachusetts gross state product.
CFS’ key innovation is high-temperature superconductors that can drive powerful magnets and create fusion. The company is constructing its SPARC fusion device on its 47-acre campus in Devens, aimed at demonstrating the world’s first net energy, commercially relevant fusion machine. SPARC is expected to produce its first plasma next year.
CFS employs more than 1,000 people nationwide. Fusion, the process that powers the sun, occurs when light atoms like hydrogen combine to form heavier atoms like helium. That releases tremendous amounts of energy. Fusion is hard to reproduce on Earth, but CFS is using a magnetic confinement approach in a machine called a tokamak that is scientifically well understood and has been proven for decades to be able to produce fusion.
Fusion plants produce electricity without emitting greenhouse gases.
So, while the history of manufacturing is inspiring, the future of the industry looks even brighter.
Brooke Thomson is president and CEO of Associated Industries of Massachusetts.
