CFS flexes magnet-manufacturing muscle to build the fusion ecosystem
Today, we at Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) announced a partnership to build superconducting magnets for Type One Energy, bringing our expertise to a new area of the fusion energy effort. Here’s why we’re eager to work together.
Our own fusion machine is a donut-shaped device called a tokamak, while Type One Energy is pursuing an approach called a stellarator that’s more like a donut with a cruller-like twist. Despite the differences, both systems rely on powerful magnetic fields to confine and control a plasma, the superhot cloud of charged particles that fuse together and release energy.
For CFS, building Type One Energy’s magnets will add to our product range and demonstrate a new application of our world-class magnet manufacturing capabilities. Our primary focus remains on our SPARC tokamak today and then our ARC fusion power plants afterward, but the Type One Energy deal expands our business around high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets by partnering with the leader in stellarators.
And fundamentally, the CFS mission is to make the fusion energy transition happen as fast as possible to address one of humanity’s biggest challenges: meeting the ever growing demand for electricity in a scalable and sustainable way. Several companies have approached CFS seeking our magnet expertise, which can unlock significant performance improvements. Selectively supporting some of those companies enables more shots on goal for commercial fusion energy. And the good news is that the market can easily accommodate multiple shots given the large and growing global need for clean, 24×7 power.
There are also other benefits to our Type One Energy partnership. For one thing, we expect to gain new experience and expertise that feeds back directly to the magnets for our own tokamaks. For another, higher volume manufacturing means costs can come down more rapidly — not just our own costs, but also for suppliers like HTS tape makers.
World-class magnet engineering, design, manufacturing
Deals like the one we’re announcing with Type One Energy are based on our proven experience in designing, building, testing, and deploying some of the most powerful HTS magnets in the world. Our magnet technology is second to none — a strong technological foundation married to our unique experience building real-world fusion electromagnets.
Here are examples of our work. We’ve proved our chops with record-setting prototypes like the Toroidal Field Model Coil (TFMC) program in 2021 and our Central Solenoid Model Coil (CSMC) program in 2024. And we built an integrated magnet system, including cooling and control systems, for a University of Wisconsin fusion experiment called WHAM that’s run successfully for months. And now our Magnet Factory is buzzing with activity building and testing production magnets destined for SPARC.
At the foundation of our magnet design are high-temperature superconductors, materials that — unlike traditional conductors like copper wires — can carry electrical current with no loss of power. That permits higher magnetic fields that boost fusion and enable smaller, more affordable devices.
CFS and MIT developed superconductor technology called VIPER that houses many strips of HTS tape in strong but bendable cables suitable for stellarators. They’re a close relative to the cables in some of the magnets in the SPARC tokamak we’re building right now to demonstrate net fusion energy in 2027.
We’re thrilled that our unique and proven capability to make these high power magnets allows us to tap a new customer and expand beyond our own business of providing ARC fusion power plants.
