Pacific Fusion breaks ground on US demonstration facility for net energy gain
The Albuquerque site aims to achieve net facility gain by 2030, marking a critical step toward commercial fusion power in the mid-2030s.
Fusion startup Pacific Fusion has broken ground on a new demonstration facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, designed to achieve a long-sought milestone in the energy sector. The facility is intended to generate as much energy as it consumes, a threshold known as net facility gain. According to the company, no such facility is currently under construction in the United States, positioning the project as a significant development in the race to commercialise fusion power.
The site will test Pacific Fusion’s magnetic fusion approach, which uses intense, tightly coordinated pulses of electricity to create a magnetic field around a fuel target. This process compresses the fuel until the atoms fuse. The demonstration system is designed to fire a handful of shots per day, a rate that will need to increase to one shot per second for a full-size commercial power plant. Each pulse from the new system is expected to generate approximately 100 megajoules, roughly ten times the output of the National Ignition Facility.
Pacific Fusion aims to reach net facility gain by 2030, with plans to operate a commercial power plant in the mid-2030s. The commercial-scale reactor will need to generate about five times more energy than the demonstration system to power additional equipment required for grid connection. The company’s rapid progress is underpinned by a milestone-based Series A round that raised over $1 billion, allowing for long-term planning without the need for frequent fundraising.
The facility will also host national security-related experiments involving high-yield fusion. This dual-use capability adds a strategic dimension to the project, particularly as existing US sites like the National Ignition Facility begin to show their age. The company recently tested a one-third-scale pulser module that released 440 gigawatts of peak power in 80 nanoseconds, a result that greenlit the construction of the full demonstration facility.
The competitive landscape for fusion energy is intensifying, with well-funded rivals such as Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Helion Energy, Proxima Fusion, and Inertia Enterprises also targeting the mid-2030s for grid connection. International competition is equally fierce, with China currently building similar types of facilities. Pacific Fusion’s leadership has stated an intention to be the first to deliver these capabilities, highlighting the urgency of the timeline.
Founded in 2023, Pacific Fusion is one of the younger entrants in the field but has moved swiftly to establish its position. The company’s capital structure has been designed to support this speed, eliminating the delays associated with traditional fundraising cycles. As the industry moves from theoretical progress to physical infrastructure, the Albuquerque facility represents a tangible step toward making fusion a viable commercial energy source.
