TAE secures funding for Copernicus fusion research reactor

The Copernicus reactor, to be constructed in a 100,000-square-foot facility in Irvine, California, is designed to demonstrate the viability of achieving net energy generation with TAE’s advanced beam-driven field-reversed configuration (FRC), which the company said is the penultimate step on its route to commercialising fusion power.

Norman, TAE’s fifth-generation reactor, was unveiled in 2017 and was designed to keep plasma stable at 30 million degrees Celsius. After five years of experiments to optimise Norman’s capabilities, the machine has proven capable of sustaining stable plasma at over 75 million degrees Celsius, which TAE said is 250 per cent higher than its original goal.

TAE has so far raised $1.2bn for its commercial fusion development and in its recently closed Series G-2 financing round, the company secured $250m from investors in the energy, technology, and engineering sectors.

Chevron, Google, Reimagined Ventures, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, and TIFF Investment Management are among the company’s most recent investors, along with a US-based West coast mutual fund manager and US pension fund. Goldman Sachs served as exclusive private placement agent to TAE.