Equinor invests in fusion energy

Equinor Technology Ventures has acquired a minority shareholding in Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), a leading developer of fusion energy technology.

CFS was spun out of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2011 and seeks to demonstrate net fusion in the mid-2020s and deliver commercial fusion power by the early 2030s.

Fusion energy has a nearly unlimited fuel supply. Fusion doesn’t emit CO2 or other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Fusion produces no high activity, long lived nuclear waste, only a small amount of low-level radioactive material, comparable to what’s being produced at a hospital. And there is no risk for fusion reactions to run out of control.

Believes in the technology
Equinor Technology Ventures supports small and medium enterprises with exciting new technologies in oil and energy — and in turn, helping Equinor be the world’s most carbon-efficient oil and gas producer with a developing renewable business.

“Equinor is a broad energy company and we will continue to invest in promising and potentially game-changing zero carbon energy technologies. We are investing in fusion and CFS because we believe in the technology and the company, and we remain committed to providing energy to the world, now and in a low carbon future”, says Sophie Hildebrand, Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President for Research and Technology in Equinor.

Valuable partnership
The investment in CFS is being made within Equinor’s venturing activities. Equinor will have an observer seat at CFS’ board of directors.

“Equinor is an industry leader with the experience and understanding of the global energy markets, as well as a track record of scaling clean technology as we work to decarbonize our global energy production,” says Bob Mumgaard, CEO in CFS. “We are excited to have Equinor on board and we look forward to a valuable partnership as we work to deliver fusion energy to the world.”

Fusion energy and CFS

Fusion energy has a nearly unlimited fuel supply.
Fusion doesn’t emit CO₂ or other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Fusion produces no high activity, long lived nuclear waste, only a small amount of low-level radioactive material.
There is no risk for fusion reactions to run out of control.
CFS is working with MIT to build SPARC, the world’s first net-energy fusion machine, which will produce more energy than it will consume. Following a successful demonstration of SPARC, CFS intends to build ARC, the world’s first commercial fusion plant.