A milestone moment! $4.5 billion in capital poured into the nuclear fusion circuit industry, General Fusion (GFUZ.US), surged 21% on the first day of listing

The Zhitong Finance App learned that in the past year, global investment in the nuclear fusion sector surged 69%, reaching a record 4.5 billion US dollars, reflecting the continued rise in market confidence that this emerging industry is expected to build commercial fusion power plants and achieve grid-connected power supply. It is worth noting that General Fusion Group (GFUZ.US) went public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), and its stock price surged 21% on the first trading day, highlighting investors' keen interest in the world's first listed nuclear fusion company.

According to a report released on Monday, fusion developers have received a total of 14.2 billion US dollars in financing since the Fusion Industry Association began tracking relevant data in 2021. In the year since the industry association released its previous annual report, four companies have absorbed more than half of the industry's investment: Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Inertia Enterprises, Helion Energy, and Proxima Fusion.

Nuclear fusion technology is expected to provide abundant carbon-free energy, but the industry still faces many scientific and engineering challenges if it wants to build commercial fusion power plants. Nuclear fusion requires simulating the internal environment of a star, that is, in a high-temperature and high-pressure environment, smaller nuclei combine into new, larger nuclei, and release huge amounts of energy.

A key technological breakthrough in 2022 greatly increased the industry's attention to this technology — researchers successfully achieved fusion reactions back then, and the reaction output energy exceeded the input energy required to start the reaction. However, this result was achieved only in a laboratory environment, and has not yet been replicated outside the laboratory. At the same time, demand for electricity in the US has risen sharply. Among them, many AI data centers are in urgent need of a stable supply of clean energy around the clock, further boosting the popularity of fusion technology.

According to the report, about 70% of the companies surveyed expect the first commercial fusion power plant to be put into operation by 2040.

The first nuclear fusion stock landed on NASDAQ, and the stock price closed 21% higher on the first day

The global nuclear fusion field has once again ushered in a new milestone.

Canadian fusion technology company General Fusion Group officially landed on the NASDAQ this Monday after completing the merger with SPAC company Spring Valley Acquisition Corp III. The stock price closed up 20.61% on the first day.

General Fusion is working to build a fusion power plant, and nuclear fusion power generation can only be achieved in a laboratory, and commercializing it is an extremely challenging and ambitious goal. The market's expectations for the construction of commercial fusion power plants in the US are extremely large. The short span is a few years, and the longest is at least ten years. Even so, the development prospects of nuclear fusion are still attracting a large number of investors. General Fusion CEO Greg Twigny said the listing would allow the company to reach a wider investor base.

“The volume of capital in the open capital market is far greater than that of the private equity market, and there is less competition. After all, we are the first listed company in the industry,” Twenny said on Monday. He also revealed that the company aims to build and put into operation the first commercial fusion reactor by 2035.

According to data, General Fusion was founded in 2002 and is one of the longest-running fusion companies in the industry. Bezos invested in the company as early as 2011. However, the company's development process has gone through a few twists and turns. Last year, it laid off 25% of its employees and sought a new round of financing from investors. Twigny said the listing would completely reverse the company's situation. The listing raised 150 million US dollars, which is sufficient to support the company's operations until 2028; the company is expected to achieve a number of key scientific breakthroughs at that time, and the difficulty of subsequent financing will be greatly reduced.

The company has built the first experimental fusion device in Vancouver. Twigny said that compared to other fusion companies, General Fusion's core advantage is that the equipment uses mature general hardware such as steam-driven pistons rather than superconducting magnets and lasers. He said, “This solution is less expensive and does not require the use of all kinds of rare special materials.”

Barron's notes that investing in General Fusion is a high-risk speculation, betting on an energy technology that has yet to be commercialized globally. Commercialization may take years or even decades.

Technology companies are hoping to speed up research and development of fusion reactors to solve the huge power needs of artificial intelligence data centers. In 2023, Microsoft (MSFT.US) and Helion Energy signed the world's first commercial fusion power generation order. The startup, which was invested by OpenAI founder Sam Altman, plans to start fueling nuclear fusion in 2028.

Google (GOOGL.US) has made many investments in the nuclear fusion field, including investments in German nuclear fusion startup Proxima Fusion and US nuclear fusion company TAE Technologies. According to reports, Trump Media reached a merger deal worth $6 billion with Tech Group and TAE Technologies last year, and the deal could be completed later this year.