First Light Fusion Switches Strategy and Drops Plan to Develop Fusion Power Plant
By Naomi Scott-Mearns, Membership Project Manager, Fusion Energy Insights
Mark Thomas, CEO of First Light Fusion © First Light Fusion
First Light Fusion has announced a major shift in strategy and will not continue its plans to develop a fusion power plant. Instead, First Light Fusion will focus on commercial partnerships in the inertial fusion market with its amplification technology.
This is a significant strategic shift for a fusion company with implications for the industry. So, what have they done and why is it significant?
What have they done?
First Light Fusion, a UK-based fusion company which was founded in 2011, is focused on inertial fusion driven by a projectile, rather than a laser. The company announced last week a huge shift in company strategy: moving away from pursuing its demonstration and future power plant and focusing instead on working with the fusion supply chain.
The new goal for First Light Fusion is to form partnerships within the fusion supply chain based on their amplifier technology.
First Light Fusion’s amplifier technology raises the efficiency of fusion reactions by increasing and converging the speed and pressure of the projectile on the fuel. First Light Fusion now aims to integrate its amplifier into other companies’ fusion power plant designs and is also looking to other industries for the applicability of its amplifier technology for other sectors.
Ryan Ramsey, Chief Operations Officer at First Light Fusion, said of the announcement: “We have made the strategic decision to share our proprietary amplifier technology with select partners across the fusion sector and beyond. This shift will allow us to generate near-term revenues from adjacent sectors, including defence, space exploration, and advanced materials. By doing so, we will create a sustainable financial foundation that supports continued innovation and development in fusion energy.”
First Light Fusion’s Machine 4 Project – a demonstration facility for ignition fusion which was being developed in collaboration with the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and Tractebel – has been abandoned. Using First Light Fusion’s amplifier technology within Machine 4 would have meant that the impact speed of projectiles would have reached approximately 200 km per second.
Why is it important?
The First Light Fusion team reports that the company has shifted the strategy as it enables them to deliver revenue much earlier than they would otherwise, and it significantly reduces future funding needs. The decision represents a practical, revenue-focused shift to secure future financing and profitability. By not continuing on R&D for a fusion powerplant and instead leveraging their intellectual property and selling their technology to the powerplants of the future, First Light Fusion aims to deliver returns on investment at an earlier stage.
What does the First Light Fusion strategy change mean for the wider industry?
The strategy news is interesting from a First Light Fusion perspective and what it means for the company, but what about the wider industry?
The funding of fusion is a major challenge for the industry. “To attract over $50bn in the next 10-15 years would represent a significant acceleration in funding momentum,” said FusionX Group recently as they released their white paper Funding Fusion: The State of the Market. For individual fusion companies, 40% of which were founded in the last 5 years, there comes a point where they need to raise hundreds of millions of dollars/pounds/euros/whatever-currency to build a demonstration device. This is a formidable challenge, particularly in light of the uncertainty over timescales for fusion and balancing this with investor needs to see a return often over a limited time horizon.
It's likely that we’ll see more companies making strategic shifts in the coming years as the field of 50-or-so private fusion companies with an energy mission consolidates. We’ve already seen changes in tack and announcements of spin outs from other established fusion companies like General Fusion and Tokamak Energy. The number of private companies pursuing different approaches to fusion is currently good for the field, but the research will generate intellectual property and know-how that may be better put to use in different ways in the future.
First Light Fusion’s decision will impact the industry by helping other companies to design their inertial fusion powerplants by leveraging a proven technology. Partners will be utilising First Light Fusion’s amplifier technology and also be given access to other specialist knowledge such as simulation and system modelling tools. So perhaps it’s the beginning of a bringing-together of efforts in fusion towards the common goal of fusion power production, rather than energies being spread across numerous disparate efforts.
Indeed, Thomas Forner, Co-Founder and President of Focused Energy said of First Light Fusion’s change: “We are currently experiencing a very exciting year in the fusion energy sector. Since 2020, fusion start-ups have been springing up like mushrooms - sometimes with very exotic ideas. But now a new phase is beginning: the time of crazy ideas is giving way to targeted consolidation.
“We are now on the threshold of commercialisation. It's no longer just about basic research, but about putting fusion technology into practice - with a clear goal: the construction of power plants. After all, great experiments are one thing, but real, functioning fusion power plants are the future. This requires strong industrial ecosystems that bring together science, engineering, business and politics. Focused Energy is just in the process of building such a fusion industry ecosystem and is taking the technological lead. This is the only way we can shape an independent, sustainable energy future. If First Light Fusion uses its expertise for the further development of the fusion energy industry in the future, we very much welcome this. This will accelerate the overall commercialisation of fusion energy.”
That said, it’s a shame to have lost a player pursuing an original fusion concept that had a lot of advantages.
What does it mean for the fusion supply chain?
Finally, what does this signal from the supply chain perspective?
We’re seeing a shift across the industry of supply chain companies emerging in the fusion market, rather than solely fusion developer companies. First Light Fusion’s strategic shift from fusion developer to supply chain player, and the focus on revenue generation, suggests that the fusion supply chain is where capital will focus in the coming years. Indeed, Guy Cohen from Sightline Climate indicated a shift in capital flows in fusion in a recent Fusion Energy Insights member Q&A event.
Guy said: “Over the last four years we've seen a lot of primary core fusion device developers stepping in and that's who's been raising money. If you look at other energy areas that are slightly further along than fusion, often the latest stage, VC [venture capital] money is not going to those companies. Those bets have been made. The money's going to the supply chain companies. So, I wonder if we'll start seeing a shift away from that to more for supply chain companies or to other elements of the fusion industry.”
What’s next?
We look forward to seeing more from First Light going forward and seeing them evolve as a business, and particularly the partnerships that will emerge.
Ryan Ramsey argues: “By collaborating with forward-thinking partners, we are not only advancing the commercial fusion timeline but also demonstrating the broad technological potential of our platform. This is a pivotal step towards powering a world worth inheriting.”
Will First Light Fusion serve as an example for other fusion companies to follow? We’ll have to wait and see.