General Fusion, a Canada-based fusion power technology developer backed by oil and gas supplier Cenovus Energy, closed a $65m series E round yesterday led by Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek.
Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)’s Cleantech Practice, DLF Group, Gimv, I2BF Global Ventures, Disruptive Technology Advisers, Hatch, Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Braemar Energy Ventures, Entrepreneurs Fund, Set Ventures and Khazanah Nasional also took part alongside individual investors.
Founded in 2002, General Fusion is working on nuclear fusion technology that relies on a sphere (pictured) filled with molten lead-lithium which is pumped to form a vortex into which plasma fuel is injected.
Pressure inside the sphere is increased to compress the plasma and create the right conditions for nuclear fusion, with the resulting heat absorbed by the liquid metal and used to generate electricity through a steam turbine.
Fusion power could hypothetically offer clean energy while producing low levels of waste, compared to current nuclear reactors that split atoms rather than fusing them together, generating radioactive waste that stays hazardous for thousands of years.
In addition to the series E funding, General Fusion received another C$50m ($38m) in financing from Strategic Innovation Fund, an industrial grant and loan scheme owned by the Canadian government.
The company intends to use the combined $103m to design, construct and operate a pilot plant to prove the commercial viability of its technology.
General Fusion said it has raised more than $200m to date. It secured the $37.6m first tranche from Strategic Innovation Fund in November 2018, after Khazanah Nasional and unnamed existing shareholders had injected $22m in 2015.
Cenovus Energy participated in a $19.5m series B round for the company in 2011 together with Bezos Expeditions, Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital, GrowthWorks, Braemar Energy Ventures, Entrepreneurs Fund, BDC and Set Venture Partners.
Photo courtesy of General Fusion.
