Fusion Energy Market 2025-2045: Technologies, Players, Timelines
Commercial fusion market overview, fusion fuels, materials for fusion, 20-year timelines for the fusion industry, funding and roadmaps by player, benchmarking fusion approaches: tokamaks, stellarators, inertial confinement fusion, and more.
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Nuclear fusion has long been hailed as the 'holy grail' of energy, promising an energy-dense, continuous source of green energy with no risk of meltdown. The technical challenges to generate energy from fusion are immense, but so is the potential payoff. Within the last decade, the commercial perception of fusion energy has shifted significantly, with commercial fusion companies raising over US$9 billion to date, while an increasing number of governments see fusion as the modern day 'space race'.
Anticipated dates for the first power producing commercial plant for major fusion startups. Data compiled by, and image source: IDTechEx.
Which approaches to fusion will succeed?
There are now around 50 private companies pursuing commercial fusion, with leaders in the industry demonstrating substantial progress towards generating net energy and securing major public and industrial partnerships. The development of the fusion industry is catalyzed by the growing demand for continuous green energy, which is essential for decarbonizing data centers and industry. Meanwhile, a number of key enabling technologies are reaching maturity at the same time as the scientific understanding and commercial interest in fusion. The question for commercial fusion energy is no longer 'if' but 'when'.
This report analyzes the commercial fusion market in depth, covering market trends, technologies, and key players. It explores the leading approaches to commercial fusion energy, including magnetic confinement fusion (tokamaks, stellarators, and field-reversed configurations), laser-driven inertial confinement fusion, and more. The strengths, weaknesses, and overall commercial potential of each approach is evaluated in a quantitative benchmarking scheme, the results of which highlight the most promising technologies to bring fusion power online.
Approaches to commercial fusion are categorized by the confinement mechanism of the fusion reactor. Image source: IDTechEx.
Materials opportunities and supply chain challenges for fusion are explored in depth, including their fuels, breeder blankets, superconductors, first wall materials, and more. Drawing on the wide technical expertise of IDTechEx, the demand for certain critical materials in fusion is also discussed, along with potential challenges and opportunities in their supply and demand.
Is fusion still "always 30 years away"?
IDTechEx provides a set of detailed 20-year timelines discussing the deployment of different fusion approaches, their fuels, and the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of fusion. The decade ahead will be a pivotal time for the fusion industry, with many of the leading startups aiming to bring fusion power to the grid by 2035. These timelines and narratives are drawn from extensive research of the commercial fusion industry, including primary information from leading fusion startups and international fusion conferences.
Key Aspects
This report provides an in-depth analysis of the commercial fusion energy market, including detailed timelines for the fusion industry and a benchmarking scheme for the 7 leading fusion approaches.
An introduction to the value of fusion energy:
- A technical primer on the fuels and reactors used in nuclear fusion
- Comparison of fusion energy to conventional sources and renewables
- Discussion of the difference between fission and fusion, and their industries
Technical and market analysis of the 7 leading fusion energy approaches:
- A quantitative benchmarking scheme to assess the commercial potential of each fusion approach
- Review of the technical challenges facing tokamaks, stellarators, inertial confinement fusion, and more
- Analysis of the key players in fusion, including their achievements to date and future goals
Value chain for materials and components for fusion:
- Analysis of the key players and value chain for fusion materials and components
- Discussion of the key critical materials required for fusion energy
- Challenges and opportunities in the supply chain for commercial fusion
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Further information
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| 1. | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY |
| 1.1. | Overview of the fusion energy market |
| 1.2. | Technical primer - what is nuclear fusion? |
| 1.3. | Drivers behind the recent emergence of commercial fusion |
| 1.4. | Long term visions for fusion and limits to its growth rate |
| 1.5. | Fusion must compete with other power sources |
| 1.6. | Fusion has the potential to meet data center power demands |
| 1.7. | Is fusion the 'space race' of the 21st century? |
| 1.8. | Fundamental differences between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission |
| 1.9. | Fusion regulation is separating from fission regulation and needs international harmonization |
| 1.10. | Fusion reactors are categorized by their confinement mechanism |
| 1.11. | Commercial fusion market landscape by reactor approach |
| 1.12. | Timeline of major players in commercial fusion: Tokamaks and stellarators |
| 1.13. | Timeline of major players in commercial fusion: Field-reversed configurations, inertial, magneto-inertial and z-pinch reactors |
| 1.14. | When do fusion startups expect their first power plant to be deployed? |
| 1.15. | Benchmarking fusion approaches - results normalized 0 to 1 (no weighting) |
| 1.16. | Conclusions from benchmarking scheme for commercial fusion |
| 1.17. | Key materials and components for fusion |
| 1.18. | Overview of the 2G HTS (ReBCO) tape value chain in fusion |
| 1.19. | Inertial confinement fusion faces challenges in scaling up components |
| 1.20. | Overview of the fusion breeder blanket material value chain |
| 1.21. | Key takeaways for lithium use in fusion |
| 1.22. | Analysis of fuels used in commercial fusion |
| 1.23. | 3 key takeaways for materials opportunities in fusion |
| 1.24. | Company landscape beyond fusion power plant OEMs and materials |
| 1.25. | How will the commercial fusion market landscape evolve? |
| 1.26. | Strategies fusion companies can use to encourage investment |
| 1.27. | Summary of IDTechEx Commercial Fusion Timelines |
| 1.28. | Access More With an IDTechEx Subscription |
| 2. | INTRODUCTION |
| 2.1. | Overview of the fusion energy market |
| 2.2. | Drivers behind the recent emergence of commercial fusion |
| 2.3. | Technical Primer |
| 2.4. | Technical primer - what is nuclear fusion? |
| 2.5. | Releasing energy and the energy density of fusion |
| 2.6. | Achieving sustained fusion - the triple product |
| 2.7. | Electricity production |
| 2.8. | Q factor - going beyond breakeven |
| 2.9. | Fusion & Fission |
| 2.10. | Fundamental differences between nuclear fusion and nuclear fission |
| 2.11. | Similarities between the fission and fusion industry |
| 2.12. | Nuclear industry provides engineering services and components for fusion |
| 2.13. | Regulations for Fusion |
| 2.14. | The importance of clear and appropriate regulations for fusion |
| 2.15. | Regulation around the world seeks to recognize fusion as distinct from fission |
| 2.16. | Europe must turn fusion research and innovation into commercial value |
| 2.17. | Conclusions for fusion regulation and international harmonization |
| 3. | MARKET OVERVIEW |
| 3.1. | Long term visions for fusion and limits to its growth rate |
| 3.2. | Competition with other power sources |
| 3.3. | Investment in fusion to meet data center power demands |
| 3.4. | Is fusion the 'space race' of the 21st century? |
| 3.5. | Commercial Landscape by Reactor Class |
| 3.6. | Fusion approaches are categorized by their confinement mechanism |
| 3.7. | Market landscape by reactor type |
| 3.8. | Fuels in Commercial Fusion |
| 3.9. | Reactions in commercial fusion |
| 3.10. | Commercial fusion market landscape by fuel |
| 3.11. | Tritium supply and self-sufficiency is a major concern for D-T reactors |
| 3.12. | Supply of other fusion fuels: Deuterium, helium-3, and boron |
| 3.13. | Analysis of fuels used in commercial fusion |
| 3.14. | Other Fusion Players |
| 3.15. | Company landscape beyond fusion power plant OEMs and materials |
| 3.16. | The importance of AI: Building trust in surrogate models |
| 4. | BENCHMARKING & TIMELINES |
| 4.1. | Chapter overview: Benchmarking and timelines |
| 4.2. | Benchmarking Commercial Fusion Approaches |
| 4.3. | Identifying the seven leading approaches to commercial fusion |
| 4.4. | The benchmarking process |
| 4.5. | Metrics used for the benchmarking scheme |
| 4.6. | Benchmarking - results normalized 0 to 1 (no weighting) - table |
| 4.7. | Benchmarking - results normalized 0 to 1 (no weighting) - radar chart |
| 4.8. | Benchmarking commercial fusion approaches - weighted totals |
| 4.9. | Which fusion approaches are underfunded relative to their benchmarking results? |
| 4.10. | Funding landscapes vary drastically by approach |
| 4.11. | Comparing tokamak and stellarator benchmarking results |
| 4.12. | Breaking down the weighted benchmarks |
| 4.13. | Weightings used for the benchmarking scheme |
| 4.14. | Benchmarking commercial fusion approaches - raw data |
| 4.15. | Important metrics that could not be used in this benchmarking scheme |
| 4.16. | Conclusions from benchmarking scheme |
| 4.17. | Commercial Fusion Player Roadmaps |
| 4.18. | Timeline of major players in commercial fusion: Tokamaks and stellarators |
| 4.19. | Timeline of major players in commercial fusion: Field-reversed configurations, inertial, magneto-inertial and z-pinch reactors |
| 4.20. | When do fusion startups expect their first power plant to be deployed? |
| 4.21. | Funding for commercial fusion by approach (to date) |
| 4.22. | IDTechEx Commercial Fusion Timelines |
| 4.23. | IDTechEx Commercial Fusion Timeline: Approaches to fusion |
| 4.24. | IDTechEx Commercial Fusion Timeline: Fuels for fusion |
| 4.25. | IDTechEx Commercial Fusion Timeline: The cost of fusion energy |
| 4.26. | Summary of IDTechEx Commercial Fusion Timelines |
| 5. | FUSION APPROACHES AND KEY PLAYERS |
| 5.1.1. | Overview of fusion approaches covered in this chapter |
| 5.2. | Magnetic Confinement Fusion: Technologies, Key Players |
| 5.2.1. | Chapter overview: Magnetic confinement fusion |
| 5.2.2. | Tokamaks and Spherical Tokamaks |
| 5.2.3. | Operating principles of tokamaks |
| 5.2.4. | International collaboration on ITER |
| 5.2.5. | The 5 aims of ITER |
| 5.2.6. | Next steps after ITER - the DEMO generation |
| 5.2.7. | Progress and delays on ITER with a new timeline |
| 5.2.8. | Is ITER too large for its own good? |
| 5.2.9. | Timeline of commercial tokamak fusion |
| 5.2.10. | Timeline of commercial spherical tokamak fusion |
| 5.2.11. | SWOT analysis: Tokamaks and spherical tokamaks |
| 5.2.12. | Stellarators |
| 5.2.13. | Principles of stellarators |
| 5.2.14. | Stellarator vs tokamak |
| 5.2.15. | Germany and Europe as the home of stellarators |
| 5.2.16. | Timeline of commercial stellarator fusion - part 1 |
| 5.2.17. | Timeline of commercial stellarator fusion - part 2 |
| 5.2.18. | SWOT analysis: Stellarators |
| 5.2.19. | Field-Reversed Configurations |
| 5.2.20. | Principles of field-reversed configurations |
| 5.2.21. | Principles of magneto-inertial field-reversed configurations (Helion Energy) |
| 5.2.22. | Timeline of commercial field-reversed configuration fusion |
| 5.2.23. | SWOT analysis: Field-reversed configurations |
| 5.3. | Inertial Confinement Fusion: Technologies, Key Players |
| 5.3.1. | Principles of inertial confinement fusion |
| 5.3.2. | Laser Driven Inertial Confinement Reactors |
| 5.3.3. | Principles of laser-driven inertial confinement fusion |
| 5.3.4. | The National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Lab: Progress from first ignition |
| 5.3.5. | Is a real-world inertial confinement fusion powerplant feasible? (Targets) |
| 5.3.6. | Is a real-world inertial confinement fusion powerplant feasible? (Lasers) |
| 5.3.7. | Laser-driven fusion faces two huge hurdles to commercialisation - lasers |
| 5.3.8. | Laser-driven fusion faces two huge hurdles to commercialisation - targets |
| 5.3.9. | Timeline of laser-driven inertial confinement fusion |
| 5.3.10. | SWOT analysis: Laser-driven inertial confinement fusion |
| 5.4. | Magneto-Inertial Confinement and Z-Pinch Fusion: Technologies, Key Players |
| 5.4.1. | Introduction to this chapter of the report |
| 5.4.2. | Timeline of magneto-inertial confinement and z-pinch fusion |
| 5.4.3. | Pulsed Magnetic Fusion |
| 5.4.4. | Technical overview of pulsed magnetic fusion |
| 5.4.5. | SWOT analysis: Pulsed magnetic fusion |
| 5.4.6. | Z-Pinch Fusion |
| 5.4.7. | Technical overview of z-pinch fusion |
| 5.4.8. | SWOT analysis: Z-pinch reactors |
| 5.4.9. | Magnetized Target Fusion |
| 5.4.10. | Technical overview of magnetized target fusion |
| 5.4.11. | SWOT analysis: Magnetized target fusion |
| 6. | MATERIALS OPPORTUNITIES AND COMPONENTS FOR FUSION |
| 6.1. | Key materials and components for fusion |
| 6.2. | High-temperature superconductors (HTS) |
| 6.3. | High-temperature superconductors |
| 6.4. | Production process of HTS tape |
| 6.5. | Overview of the 2G HTS (ReBCO) tape value chain in fusion |
| 6.6. | Global demand for HTS tape expected to grow |
| 6.7. | SWOT analysis: 2G HTS tape for fusion |
| 6.8. | Key takeaways for high-temperature superconductors (HTS) in fusion |
| 6.9. | Plasma Facing Materials (PFMs) |
| 6.10. | Plasma facing materials - the first wall problem |
| 6.11. | Two solutions to the first wall problem: Tungsten and lithium |
| 6.12. | Blanket Materials (Breeder Blankets) |
| 6.13. | Introduction to breeder blankets |
| 6.14. | Breeder blanket materials: Ceramics, liquid metals, and molten salts |
| 6.15. | Solid-state vs fluid blanket materials |
| 6.16. | Breeder blankets are currently one of the lowest TRL components |
| 6.17. | Overview of the fusion breeder blanket material value chain |
| 6.18. | Lithium demand in fusion |
| 6.19. | Demand for separation of lithium isotopes |
| 6.20. | Alternatives to the COLEX process for enriching lithium-6 |
| 6.21. | Comparison of lithium separation methods |
| 6.22. | Current lithium demand is dominated by battery markets |
| 6.23. | Outlook of lithium supply vs demand towards 2035 |
| 6.24. | Modelling lithium use in fusion power plants |
| 6.25. | Key takeaways for lithium use in fusion |
| 6.26. | Additional Key Components for Fusion |
| 6.27. | Specialized components for fusion - capacitors, power electronics and vacuum systems |
| 6.28. | Summary of key components for inertial fusion |
| 6.29. | Materials and Components for Fusion - Conclusions |
| 6.30. | China's influence on tungsten and other critical minerals for fusion |
| 6.31. | Public funding and mutual support is essential to overcome the chicken-egg problem |
| 6.32. | Case study: Gauss Fusion stellarator plant |
| 6.33. | 3 key takeaways for materials opportunities in fusion |
| 7. | BUSINESS MODELS AND FUNDING STRATEGIES IN FUSION |
| 7.1. | How will the commercial fusion market landscape evolve? |
| 7.2. | Secondary and alternative business models in fusion |
| 7.3. | Case study: Alpha Ring commercializing fusion for education & materials research |
| 7.4. | Fusion startups create value at every step in development |
| 7.5. | Fusion can provide process heat directly to industry |
| 7.6. | More common fusion approaches share the burden of securing supply |
| 7.7. | Investment in Fusion |
| 7.8. | Enabling investment in fusion |
| 7.9. | Strategies fusion companies can use to encourage investment |
| 8. | COMPANY PROFILES |
| 8.1. | Company profiles included in this report |
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Over US$9.6 billion cumulative investment in private fusion companies to date.
Report Statistics
| Slides | 193 |
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| Published | Apr 2025 |
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