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The the world’s first grid-scale commercial fusion power plant will be built in the James River Industrial Park in Chesterfield County, Virginia.
That’s according to a Dec. 17 announcement from Commonwealth Fusion Systems, one of the nation’s largest private fusion companies.
The multi-million dollar project is still in its infancy, however. A CFS spokesperson told Construction Dive that the company has only just announced plans and therefore has not selected a contractor or determined a timeline or size of the project.
As part of the effort to build the plant, CFS, based in Devens, Massachusetts, reached an agreement with Dominion Energy Virginia, the current owner of the proposed site, to provide non-financial collaboration, to include technical and development know-how as well as leasing rights. .
CFS conducted a global site search for its first commercial fusion power plant, known as ARC, the statement said. The company will independently finance, build, own and operate the project.
The project has received a $1 million grant from Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank, which Chesterfield County matched, according to an announcement from Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office.
CFS was spun off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2018. Since then, it has raised more than $2 billion in capital and received $16.5 million in grants from the Department of Energy. The most recent $15 million grant was announced in June 2024 as part of the first phase of DOE’s milestone-based fusion development program.
The new facility is expected to create hundreds of jobs during construction and long-term operation, the CFS announcement said.. When finished, ARC will generate about 400 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 150,000 homes.
