US-based TAE Technologies has raised more than $150m in its latest funding round, exceeding the initial target. TAE has the option to raise additional capital as part of this funding round, with more than $1.2bn in equity capital raised since inception through 11 prior fundraises. Investors include Google, Chevron, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, NEA, Wellcome Trust, and the offices of Addison Fischer, the Samberg Family, Charles Schwab, and others.
TAE was founded in 1998 to develop commercial fusion power and has been granted more than 1,500 patents worldwide. It has constructed five generations of prototypes, the last four comparable in size to traditional natural gas combustion turbines, with two more currently under development.
TAE says its hydrogen-boron fusion research approach represents the fastest, most practical, and economically competitive solution to bring fusion energy to the grid. TAE’s sixth generation Copernicus reactor, which will be constructed in a 100,000-square-foot facility in Irvine, California, is designed to demonstrate the viability of achieving net energy generation with TAE’s advanced beam-driven field-reversed configuration (FRC) – the penultimate step on the path to commercialise fusion power. FRC uses a combination of plasma physics and accelerator physics, developed to integrate into the grid with TAE’s preferred fuel source, hydrogen-boron, also known as proton-boron or p-B11.
TAE’s fifth-generation reactor, Norman, unveiled in 2017, was designed to keep plasma stable at 30 million degrees Celsius. After five years of experiments to optimise Norman’s capabilities, in 2022, the machine proved capable of sustaining stable plasma at more than 75m degrees Celsius, 250% higher than its original goal. TAE then secured strategic and institutional investments to fund the construction of its next research reactor, Copernicus.
“Fusion has the potential to transform the energy landscape, providing near-limitless clean power at a time when the world’s energy needs are growing exponentially due to the growth of AI and data centres, said TAE CEO Michl Binderbauer. “TAE’s technology uses the soundest physics to deliver superior performance in a compact machine, with attractive economics and best-in-class maintainability. We are leading the charge to develop revolutionary fusion technology for full-scale commercial deployment.”
Since 2014, TAE and Google Research have worked together to accelerate fusion science using cutting-edge machine learning. Google engineers worked onsite at TAE facilities to co-develop advanced plasma reconstruction algorithms, leading to significantly improved plasma lifetime and performance. Google’s deep integration into TAE’s engineering teams was instrumental in enabling the Norman breakthrough that now paves the way for validating net energy capability in the Copernicus reactor “We’re delighted to continue our relationship with Google, who have not only provided funding to TAE but collaborated closely in research and development over many years. With this latest fundraise, we look forward to accelerating our efforts to deliver commercial fusion power,” said Binderbauer.
