The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $134m in funding for two programmes intended to secure US leadership in emerging fusion technologies and innovation. These investments are part of DOE’s broader mission to unleash American energy, science, and innovation, ensuring the technologies that define the future of fusion power are developed in the US.
DOE is announcing $128m for the Fusion Innovative Research Engine (FIRE) collaboratives. The funding was awarded to seven teams focused on creating a fusion energy science and technology innovation ecosystem by forming virtual, centrally managed teams. The selected teams have a collective goal of bridging the DOE Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) programme’s basic science research programmes and growing fusion industries. DOE expects to invest up to $220m in total funding for the FIRE Collaboratives over four years, with $31m in Fiscal Year 2025.
A further $6.1m was announced for the Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) programme. With this funding, DOE has selected 20 projects that accelerate private-sector fusion energy development by reducing barriers to collaboration between businesses and national laboratories or universities. The selected projects include research in materials science, laser technology development, high temperature superconducting magnet assessment, artificial intelligence (AI) learning for fusion modelling and simulation, and enabling technologies to move toward achieving economical fusion energy.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, DOE is unleashing the next frontier of American energy,” said Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “Fusion power holds the promise of limitless, reliable, American-made energy – and programs like INFUSE and FIRE ensure our innovators have the tools, talent, and partnerships to make it a reality.”
Following the passage of the Energy Act of 2020, FES sought to accelerate the viability of commercial fusion energy in partnership with the private sector by establishing several industry-relevant programmes such as INFUSE and the FIRE Collaboratives, which were established within the DOE Office of Science, in 2019 and 2023, respectively.
The INFUSE programme awards private companies between $100,000 and $500,000 each to spend with national labs and universities. The FIRE Collaboratives programme awards funding to virtual, centrally managed collaboratives, consisting of fusion professionals in the private and public sector, studying cross-cutting issues related to the delivery of commercial fusion energy.
