Eni ready to invest more in fusion project

MILAN, Nov 29, Reuters - Italian energy company Eni is ready to invest more in a nuclear fusion project that it believes could be a game-changer in the race to produce clean electricity to power cities and industry, the head of Eni said.

In 2018 Eni injected $50 million as a starting investment to become the single biggest shareholder in Commonwealth Fusion System CFS, a company set up by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to create energy by combining atoms at temperatures as hot as the sun.

We're watching things carefully because CFS is in a new round of financing for its next 2025 deadline. Francesca Ferrazza, head of Eni's Fusion Program, told Reuters that we are very interested in fusion and intend to build the business.

CFS met a key milestone earlier this year: https://www.reuters.com. com business energy-eni-completes landmark-test energy-fusion project - 2021 -- 09 -- 08 to build a fusion power plant by successfully testing the coils and magnets that will hold the super-hot plasma of subatomic particles.

It is now talking to investors to help it fund the next deadline - to build a pilot reactor by 2025 that can generate more energy than it consumes.

As governments around the world start to combat climate change, energy companies like Eni have started transition strategies to shift from fossil fuels to cleaner energy.

Fusion, once considered science fiction, is now attracting interest from big companies. Norway s oil and gas group Equinor joined CFS this year and U.S. major Chevron Corp invested in Seattle-based fusion company Zap Energy Inc.

When fusion was the domain of scientists, there are private investors who want to see a shorter timeline to exploitation, according to Ferrazza.

CFS expects to have a first commercial plant ready to feed energy into the power grid by the early 2030s. The first-of-its-kind plant, which will be built in the United States near Boston, could cost up to $3 billion.

There is a whole industry to be built like the solar business 30 years ago. Ferrazza says it took time to create economies of scale and supply chain.

CFS aims to build 200-400 megawatt plants and ship fusion technology to the world, using 3 D printing for some of the critical parts.

Kepler Chevreux believes it is not unrealistic to imagine 2,000 gigawatts of nuclear power deployed from 2035 to 2055 using disruptive fusion technology.