Fusion's Next Race Is Over Superconducting Tape, Not Plasma

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Fusion power investment reached a record $4.48 billion last year, as the race to commercialize the technology increasingly depends on manufacturing superconducting tape. The article says leading companies are lining up prospective buyers, including Helion, which has signed a power purchase agreement with Microsoft.

The race to build the world’s first commercial fusion power plant has moved out of the physics lab and onto the factory floor. Private investors poured a record $4.48 billion into fusion last year, a 69% jump, bringing the industry’s total since 2021 to $14.24 billion. According to the Fusion Industry Association, 71% of the 56 private fusion companies it surveyed expect to deliver power to the grid by the 2030s.  The front-runners already have buyers, with Washington-based Helion signing a power purchase agreement with Microsoft…