EXCLUSIVE: Bezos-Backed General Fusion Advances LM26 Program, Sets Stage For First-Of-A-Kind Plant By 2035

• General Fusion aims to have its first MTF energy plant operating and producing energy by 2035.
• The company already has more than a dozen potential end users, including Ontario Power Generation and Bruce Power in Canada, the Tennessee Valley Authority and Southern Company in the U.S., Renexia, E.ON, and ENGIE in Europe, and ACEN in Asia, among others.  
• General Fusion plans to list on Nasdaq under the ticker ‘GFUZ’ and begin trading around mid-2026.

General Fusion Inc., a Vancouver-based commercial fusion energy company, is betting on its fusion plants to be a “cost-competitive” alternative to other power sources, including other renewable options, even as it plans to become the first publicly traded pure-play fusion company.

The company has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to list on Nasdaq through a proposed merger with a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III (SVAC).

General Fusion, which is backed by Amazon.com (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos,  plans to trade under the ticker ‘GFUZ.’ The deal is expected to close in mid-2026, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals.

In an exclusive interview with Stocktwits, Megan Wilson, Chief Strategy Officer at General Fusion, said the company’s plants are designed to be cost-competitive with coal, steam, and natural gas, while delivering more energy per unit of fuel than fission.

Assuming fusion technology is viable as planned, what would the first commercial fusion power plant look like in terms of size, cost, and power output?

We are aiming to have our first MTF energy plant operating and producing energy by 2035. Our MTF technology has been developed from the ground up with a practical power plant and a clear path to commercialization in mind. Today, General Fusion is one of the few fusion companies in the world with meaningful, peer-reviewed fusion results and a viable path to be a first mover in commercial fusion. 

In our current design, a typical General Fusion plant would produce about 300 megawatts electric (MWe) from two 150-MW fusion machines running in tandem, delivering cost-competitive, zero-carbon power. The 150 MW machine size gives customers flexibility, and the practical steam-driven power plant can effectively plug into traditional power plant infrastructure, creating a broad range of potential applications, from repowering existing power generation sites like retired coal plants to new, grid-scale utility plants, industrial steam heat use, and dedicated data center use.  
 
Because our MTF is designed to be practical and durable, using existing industrial materials, we believe our plants will ultimately be quite cost-competitive with other clean, baseload power options.  

General Fusion has spent more than 20 years advancing our technology with real-world machines. Right now, we’re operating the world’s first large-scale fusion MTF demonstration machine, Lawson Machine 26 (LM26).

LM26 is designed to reach key fusion milestones — plasma temperatures of 10M°C, 100M°C, and ultimately the Lawson criterion — at a commercially relevant scale. Hitting these milestones would be transformative for General Fusion and the industry, setting the stage for our first-of-a-kind plant by 2035.  

Is General Fusion currently in discussions with utilities, governments, or large energy consumers about future deployment of fusion power plants?

There is a global race to commercialize fusion, and it is exciting to see governments worldwide building national fusion programs. Governments in the U.S., EU, and Asia are already advancing favorable frameworks to align public investment and private innovation to deliver commercial fusion power to the grid by the mid-2030s. We are grateful for the Government of Canada’s investment in our company throughout the years, which has been instrumental to our success.

We’ve already brought more than a dozen potential end users to the table through our Market Development Advisory Committee, where they’re helping shape our technology development and commercialization plans.

That group includes Ontario Power Generation and Bruce Power in Canada; the Tennessee Valley Authority and Southern Company in the U.S.; Renexia, E.ON, and ENGIE in Europe; and ACEN in Asia, among others.  

How cost-effective will General Fusion’s electricity be versus advanced fission or renewable energy?

By using existing materials and our unique liquid-metal-wall-compression approach, we eliminate the need for expensive magnets, targets, lasers, or exotic, not-yet-invented materials. We also eliminate the need for frequent replacement of components damaged by neutron exposure.

Our plants are designed to be cost-competitive compared to coal, steam, and natural gas. They are expected to deliver four times as much energy per unit of fuel as fission, without long-lived radioactive waste, positioning them as the superior nuclear technology for sustainable growth.

What are the timelines for LM26’s scientific breakeven and commercial breakeven?

The LM26 program aims to achieve key technical milestones, including, ultimately, the Lawson criterion. We’re advancing the planning stages for our commercial systems demonstration program in parallel with LM26, and we aim to begin executing it in 2027. After that, we'll start work on site preparation and related activities for our first-of-a-kind plant.

Five years from now, what are the milestones that investors should watch out for in your roadmap?

In the near term, investors should watch the progress of the LM26 program through 2028, which is funded by PIPE capital committed in conjunction with the Spring Valley transaction and is demonstrating MTF at a commercially relevant scale.

Key technical milestones to look for during this time include reaching fusion temperatures of 10M°C, and then 100M°C, and ultimately achieving 100% Lawson criterion with LM26.

Over this same period, investors can look for the formation of strategic partnerships with potential end-users, engineering firms, and supply chain partners to advance our commercial systems demonstration program and ultimately complete the final design for our commercial plant, as well as site selection and partnerships for that first-of-a-kind plant, which we expect to begin operating around 2035.

Editor’s Note: The interview has been edited for readability, grammar, and length.

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