ARPA-E Announces Record $135M Investment in Fusion Energy

On April 8, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) announced a $135 million investment in fusion, marking the largest in its history, and more than it has invested in fusion over the past 12 years combined ($134M). The funding, to be deployed over multiple programs in the next 18 months, aims to accelerate commercially viable fusion power.

This announcement builds on more than a decade of ARPA-E leadership in high-risk, high-reward fusion innovation. Since launching its first fusion program in 2014, the agency has helped drive growth across fusion R&D and industry – directly spinning out several companies including FIA members Zap Energy, Realta Fusion, Thea Energy, LaserFusionX, and TerraFusion – and catalyzed follow-on private funding.

While the programs under the announcement are still under development, potential focus areas are noted: advanced plasma heating and driver systems, fuel cycles, power conversion and plant systems, and power plant architectures. These efforts are focused on making fusion systems faster to deploy, more cost-effective, and scalable for grid use.

ARPA-E’s landmark fusion investment is an important marker in the U.S.’ prioritization of fusion. The FIA congratulates and thanks Director Prochaska and the ARPA-E team on the new programming and looks forward to seeing its implementation.