Youngkin says nation’s first commercial fusion plant to be built in Virginia

RICHMOND, Va. – A company pioneering the use of fusion for commercial energy plans to build the nation’s first grid-scale fusion power plant in Virginia by the early 2030s, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, and other state and company officials said Tuesday.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), based in Massachusetts, said it will invest billions of dollars to build the unique facility, which – if the technology can be proved – promises to supply about 400 megawatts of electricity, enough energy to power about 150,000 homes, according to a state news release.

“This is an historic moment for Virginia and the world at large,” Republican Youngkin said in the release. “Commonwealth Fusion Systems is not just building a facility, they are pioneering groundbreaking innovation to generate clean, reliable, safe power, and it’s happening right here in Virginia. We are proud to be home to this pursuit to change the future of energy and power.”

Fusion is a long-sought source of power that can generate almost limitless energy by combining atomic nuclei. It is unlike fission, the more common form of nuclear energy, in which the nucleus is split, and which generates large amounts of radioactive waste.

Efficient fusion energy technology has been elusive, with systems requiring more energy to achieve atomic fusion than can be reliably generated by the reaction. Recent advances, though, have held out hope that the technology could be achievable in the next few years.

CFS was spun off the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2018 and is considered an industry leader. The company said in the news release that it conducted a global search for a site to build a commercial fusion power plant, which will be called Arc and which the company will finance, build and operate in Chesterfield County outside Richmond.

“In the early 2030s, all eyes will be on the Richmond region, and more specifically Chesterfield County, as the birthplace of commercial fusion energy,” CFS co-founder and chief executive Bob Mumgaard said in the release. “Virginia emerged as a strong partner as they look to implement innovative solutions for both reliable electricity and clean forms of power.”

CFS is building a demonstration plant in Massachusetts, called Sparc, aimed at proving the technology it hopes to scale up at the Virginia facility.

Dominion Energy, Virginia’s biggest electric utility, owns the Chesterfield County site and will lease it to CFS, which will provide the power directly to customers or into the grid, Youngkin said. “They are not putting this [cost] on the back of Dominion ratepayers,” he said.

“Our customers’ growing needs for reliable, carbon-free power benefits from as diverse a menu of power generation options as possible, and in that spirit, we are delighted to assist CFS in their efforts,” Dominion Energy Virginia president Edward H. Baine said in the release.

While fusion has been seen as a potential solution for the vast energy demands of new industries such as data centers, which have become a huge demand on Virginia’s power grid, experts caution that reliable fusion energy at that scale is still a long way from reality.

The project represents a marquee economic development win for Youngkin, whose efforts to land a sports arena for the Washington Capitals and Wizards crumbled before the General Assembly early this year. The term-limited governor leaves office in January 2026 and could tout the high-profile project as he continues exploring a 2028 White House bid.

Democrats who have sparred with Youngkin for years over culture-war issues joined him in Richmond on Tuesday afternoon to cheer on the project.

“I don’t think it’s the governor’s win, it’s not the House’s win, it’s not the Senate’s win,” House Speaker Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) said as the event broke up. “It’s our win together. … We want the governor to be successful because we want the constituents of the commonwealth of Virginia to be successful.”

Del. Richard C. “Rip” Sullivan Jr. (D-Fairfax), chairman of the House’s energy subcommittee, said he plans to introduce a bill to add “fusion” to state code, which makes no mention of the technology. He said the bill will define fusion as a form of clean energy under the Clean Economy Act, legislation Sullivan carried in 2020 that requires the state’s biggest utilities to deliver electricity from 100 percent renewable sources by 2045.

“We need to start fitting fusion energy into our code where necessary because fusion energy for years has been theoretical,” he said. “And now it’s starting to look real and we need our code to recognize that.”

In brief remarks to reporters after the announcement, Youngkin said he was thrilled that the company had chosen Virginia for its “huge initiative” without major state or local incentives. The state Department of Energy and Chesterfield County will contribute about $1 million apiece at the outset, with the county set to provide $10 million more in “longer-term support,” Youngkin said. The state also will exempt plant equipment from sales and use tax.

“I literally had to pinch myself today,” Youngkin said. The company’s decision to build the plant in Virginia is “just another testament to the fact that Virginia is doing all the right things to be the very best place for business.”

CFS will invest “multiple billions” and create “hundreds and hundreds of jobs,” Youngkin said, adding: “They have not been overly specific beyond that.”

The plant will be built at the James River Industrial Park, a Dominion-owned site about 15 miles south of the state Capitol building. Asked if Dominion customers will be on the hook for the costs, Youngkin said: “The short answer is no.”

Youngkin, who studied engineering at Rice University, said the technology is “incredibly safe” – and far different from the fission used in nuclear reactors.

“Fusion technology and fission technology are the exact opposite,” he said. “Fission technology is splitting atoms and fusion technology [is] two lighter elements coming together in order to form a heavier one that spins off a neutron and creates power,” he said. “When it’s exposed to air, it turns off. And so the idea of a runaway chain reaction and fusion doesn’t present itself.”

Youngkin took office two years after the state adopted the Clean Energy Act and has objected to the goal of phasing out fossil fuels. He has instead touted his support for an “all-of-the-above” energy policy, including gas, solar and an initiative to promote small modular nuclear reactors.

“Virginia needs the power and we are racing to provide it because I want us to be able to take as much economic development as we can,” he said, noting growth of advanced manufacturing, indoor farming and data centers.