The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded a grant to HB11 Energy as part of its Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) program to accelerate basic research to develop cost-effective, innovative fusion energy technologies in the private sector.
INFUSE is one of the first public-private partnership (P3) programs established to accelerate fusion energy R&D in partnership with the private sector, as part of a broader vision announced by the White House to realize a fusion power plant on a decadal time scale. To achieve this vision, the DOE is planning a greater P3 program, which is expected to be based on the NASA COTS program that supported SpaceX and established the commercial space launch industry.
INFUSE will provide access to expertise from the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) at the University of Rochester, an institutional partner of the National Ignition Facility, which recently demonstrated net energy gain from laser fusion. Led by HB11 Energ