Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and Business Development Bank of Canada Invest $14M+ in General Fusion

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), Canada’s nuclear science and technology organization, and the Business Development Bank of Canada’s investment arm, BDC Capital, Canada’s bank for entrepreneurs, have invested $7.29 million each in General Fusion, a Canadian-based developer of commercial fusion energy. 

 

The investment will help General Fusion to improve its innovative technology, Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF), to provide clean fusion energy to the grid by the early to mid-2030s.

 

General Fusion is advancing its Lawson Machine 26 (LM26) demonstration program in Richmond, B.C., to accelerate commercialization. The machine is designed to achieve temperatures of over 100 million degrees Celsius (10 keV) and scientific breakeven equivalent, using the company’s uniquely practical MTF technology.

 

“This new investment from CNL and BDC represents a major vote of confidence in General Fusion and strengthens Canada’s position to lead in the deployment of commercial fusion power – a technology that will play a transformational role in the future of clean energy. Through this financing, General Fusion continues to not only advance our LM26 program but build the strategic partnerships we need to make this clean, baseload energy source a reality," said Greg Twinney, General Fusion CEO. 

 

The first closing of the financing also includes investment from Hatch, a Canadian-headquartered consultancy firm specializing in the mining, energy, and infrastructure sectors, as well as other company shareholders. The financing will bring the total public and private investment into General Fusion’s LM26 program to over $51.75 million since its launch in 2023.

 

CNL has released its new Fusion Energy for Canada report, which outlines the significant future opportunities for Canadian technology and the advantages of being an early mover in this sector's development.

 

The report highlights the role of fusion development to drive new jobs, economic growth, intellectual property, and innovation in Canada. Building and operating domestic fusion power plants and exporting products and services for international experiments and plants will create over 63,000 Canadian jobs and establish valuable supply chains by 2050. 

 

"CNL and General Fusion share the same vision—unlocking fusion’s tremendous potential as a transformative, clean energy future in Canada to fight climate change and maintain our energy security. We are proud to invest in such an innovative Canadian company, applying our unique capabilities and expertise within Canada’s national nuclear laboratory to help bring their technology to life and secure these environmental and economic benefits to Canada," said Jack Craig, CNL President and CEO. 

 

Overall, fusion is estimated to offer $379.01 billion in cumulative economic benefits by 2100, and as a clean source of heat and electrical energy, it will help reduce cumulative emissions by up to 192 Mt CO2-eq by 2050.

 

CNL’s investment is facilitated through the New Nuclear and Emerging Technologies (N2ET) program, an active portfolio of work underway at Canada’s national nuclear laboratories to advance fusion and advanced energy technology research and commercialization domestically. 

 

CNL and General Fusion are working together to advance the design of the latter’s power plant through a series of joint projects conducted as part of CNL’s Canadian Nuclear Research Initiative (CNRI) program. The work included CNL's analysis of tritium breeding technologies and tritium management facilities. 

 

The teams also partnered on research related to the fusion machine, balance of plant, and power conversion system for General Fusion’s MTF machine design.