Top Highlights from Seattle Fusion Week 2024: What’s Next in Fusion

Guest Blog Post by Shaun Walsh, CMO, Peak Nano

This week, some of the best, brightest, and most influential people in the fusion energy industry ventured North by Northwest for Seattle Fusion Week, organized by the CleanTech Alliance. The conference covered a wide range of topics, including the fusion market's potential to generate $1 trillion in revenue by 2050, the projected $2.5 billion supply chain in 2024, and the millions of new jobs that fusion energy is expected to create over the next two decades. Highlights of the event included an address by Jean Paul Allain, Associate Director Office of Science leading the Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), Jay Inslee (D), Washington State Governor, and an Avalanche Energy factory tour and sessions from dozens of fusion energy experts (for a complete list of speakers, please click here). 

Jean Paul Allain - The Department of Energy Perspective on Fusion

JP Allain, the Associate Director and lead for Fusion Energy at the DOE, provided his perspective on the next steps for the industry, similar to his testimony to the Senate Energy Committee about the DOE's efforts to realign FES programs to meet the changing nature of the fusion industry. Allain noted three key steps for the DOE to support fusion: 

1. Closing Technology Gaps 

2. Leveraging Public-private Partnerships

3. Building a Robust Manufacturing Network 

In response to Senator Cassidy's question on government investment, he spoke on closing technology gaps and stressed the following:

• Public/Private Partnership and Investment:

  • The FIRES program is an example of this coming to fruition

• Expand STEM and Skills Development:

  • In 2026, the DOE is planning a “Fusion Workforce Pathways” program to develop the fusion workforce from students, skilled labor, and the overall ecosystem to support scale/future.

• Scaling the Supply Chain:

  • Build innovation activities and manufacturing

  • The DOE will support future investment in fusion to be developed/announced as the industry matures

10 Key Take-Aways From Seattle Fusion Week

Taking part in conferences like Seattle Fusion Week gives you the ability to quickly enhance your understanding of the market, immerse yourself in the energy of the industry, and discover new perspectives on concepts you thought you had mastered.

There were many insightful takeaways from this event, but here are just a few that stood out to me:

1.) 2X Electricity Demands - Electricity demand is on a path to double globally. The exact number varies between the US EIA, the EU IEA, and other forecasters. Despite what the number is, the trend line on the graph below continues to rise, and we will need all forms of power generation to meet this demand.

According to the International Energy Agency’s new World Energy Outlook, AI, EVs, and AC will be some of the biggest drivers of power demand.

2.) AI and Fusion Acceleration - AI will accelerate the fusion industry by optimizing designs & technology processes and reducing the time to commercialization. AI's potential to enhance fuel development, fusion machine efficiency, and scalability is significant. Conversely, AI's energy requirements will drive the early adoption of fusion energy.

3.) Energy is Prosperity - Different perspectives were offered. Some couched it as economic growth, some saw the geopolitical implications, some saw the value of clean energy, and some saw it as an effort to advance underserved communities and nations. However, the bottom line was that abundant and affordable energy creates increased social and economic prosperity.

4.) A Purpose Beyond Profits - In the internship and STEM sessions, many of the future leaders of the fusion industry stressed that fusion is more than just making money. In order to reach and recruit the right talent from the next generation, we must have a purpose beyond profits. We have to solve big problems for humanity.

5.) The Race Against China Is On - China's aggressive investment and execution in the fusion sector present significant challenges. The US and our allies' response will have far-reaching geopolitical and economic implications. As Dr. Matt Levy emphasized in his Forbes article 'Fusion And The Future: How To Secure US Leadership, “Rather than cede this one to our competitors, it’s time for us to come together, unleash the power of America (and our allies), and secure our leadership in fusion energy.”

6.) How Will The Election Winner Impact Fusion? - There was a lot of discussion about how the presidential and congressional elections will impact fusion energy development. As we have seen with NASA and SpaceX, joint public-private funding can deliver the goods for both government and commercial endeavors. The biggest takeaway is that we need to work with the next administration to remove ambiguity about future funding and that regulatory enablement would impede market growth.

7.) The Fusion or the Egg - To paraphrase the adage, what came first, the chicken or the egg? What will come first, the fusion machine or the supply chain? The good news is that most expected supply chain materials and components will be used across multiple industries and will facilitate development. There is, however, no clear answer on when supply chain partners should or should not invest capital in capacity.

8.) The Staffing & Skills Demand - Today, after nearly 20 years of market development, solar energy employs approximately 4 million people globally and accounts for 10-12% of current power generation. If fusion energy reaches the levels predicted by Ignition Research, 20-24% over the next 20 years, it could create 7-10 million jobs within the industry.

9.) Policy, Policy, Policy —Washington Governor Jay Inslee (D) and several other state officials (State Senator Joe Nguyễn, Senator for Washington’s 34th Legislative District, State Rep. Stephanie Barnard, Representative for Washington’s 8th District, and Cassie Franklin, Mayor of Everett) shared vital insights on the need to advance fusion energy alongside fission and renewables to address the significant increase in energy demands.

10.) Will the Feds Go First? Targets focus deliverables. From the first atomic submarine to the Apollo program, the federal government has the ability to set a target for industries to pursue. Securing a government order for a fusion-powered data center or deploying the first fusion machine to the grid through TVA or another government power initiative could significantly accelerate the deployment and commercialization of fusion energy.

Fusion “Q”uips and “Q”uotes of Seattle Fusion Week

• “Gen Z needs a purpose to join us.” 

• “Be glad Elon Musk is not in fusion.”

• “Fusion is a hug, not a fight.”

• “Investing billions to make trillions”

• “Power too cheap to meter”

• “Energy is growth.”

• “The energy transition is the greatest feat in human history outside armed conflict."

Conclusion: The Path to Fusion

The path forward for fusion energy is gaining momentum. AI will expedite development and facilitate the early adoption of fusion machines. It's clear that the fusion community is navigating the balance between providing purposeful energy, ensuring profitability for investors, and fostering public-private partnerships to develop commercial fusion energy and train the workforce needed for its advancement.