In August 2023, U.S. Department of Energy scientists successfully replicated a historic nuclear fusion reaction, seemingly confirming the net energy gain in a fusion experiment first reported in 2022 was no fluke.
The DOE called the news “a major scientific breakthrough decades in the making,” and it’s understandable why investors are excited about the opportunities nuclear fusion could create. These historic nuclear fusion reactions produced more energy than the laser energy used to generate the reactions, creating the possibility that fusion can be used to produce clean energy free of greenhouse gases and radioactive waste.
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Unfortunately for investors, there are limited options for investing in nuclear fusion at this point.
“Currently, direct investments in nuclear fusion are mostly accessible to accredited investors through platforms like EquityZen, where pre-IPO shares of leading fusion startups like Helion Energy and Commonwealth Fusion Systems trade,” says Nick Scibilia, founder and CEO of Orbit, a social media platform for investors.
The average retail investor does not have access to private equity funds or private, pure-play nuclear fusion stocks. But there are still some publicly traded companies positioned to benefit from investments in private fusion technology companies, the transition of legacy energy businesses to renewable energy sources and the application of artificial intelligence technology to solve the fusion problem.
“These companies provide a more traditional investment vehicle, combining stable returns with exposure to innovative fusion developments,” Scibilia says.
Here are five ways to invest in nuclear fusion today:
— Chevron Corp. (ticker: CVX)
— Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE)
— Eni S.p.A. (E)
— Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
Chevron Corp. (CVX)
Chevron is a global oil major
that operates exploration and production, refining and marketing, and petrochemical businesses. Chevron also participated in the $250 million funding round for TAE Technologies in July 2022. In addition, Chevron has invested in Zap Energy, a startup developing a next-generation modular nuclear reactor with the goal of producing commercially scalable fusion.
Clean energy investors often see legacy oil and gas companies like Chevron as obsolete dinosaurs, but Chevron is taking an aggressive approach to position itself well for a green future. In addition to its investments in nuclear fusion, Chevron has pledged to invest $10 billion into clean energy technology such as renewable fuels, geothermal energy and carbon capture.
While investors wait for nuclear fusion technology to advance, they can also enjoy Chevron’s 4.4% dividend.
Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE)
Cenovus Energy is a Canadian integrated oil company focused on exploration and production of bitumen in Canada and crude oil refining in the U.S. Bitumen is a substance produced through the distillation of crude oil that is used as a waterproofing and adhesive agent in the construction industry.
Cenovus first made a $4 million investment in General Fusion back in 2011. General Fusion is a Canadian company developing magnetized target fusion technology with the goal of bringing zero-carbon fusion energy to market by the early to mid-2030s. In August 2023, General Fusion announced a new MTF machine will be built at the company’s Richmond, British Columbia, headquarters that is designed to produce fusion conditions of more than 100 million degrees Celsius. General Fusion says the new machine will be up and running by 2025 and on track to achieve scientific breakeven by 2026.
Eni S.p.A. (E)
Eni is an Italian oil major that operates in 61 countries around the world and generated 3,980 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of energy from renewable sources in 2023. Eni was an early investor in fusion, taking an ownership stake in Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a spin-out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 2018. In March 2023, Eni announced a new collaboration framework agreement with CFS aimed at accelerating the industrialization of fusion energy.
Eni claims CFS has the “fastest pathway to commercial deployment of fusion energy” and predicts that CFS’ first commercial power plant based on magnetic confinement fusion will be up and running in the early 2030s. Eni is also involved in a fusion research collaboration with the National Research Council and a strategic alliance with Italian agency ENEA dedicated to the Divertor Tokamak Test facility fusion project.
Fusion technology is a part of Eni’s long-term goal of becoming completely carbon-neutral by 2050.
Alphabet is one of the world’s largest online search and advertising companies and is the parent company of Google and YouTube. In July 2022, Alphabet invested in TAE Technologies, another company working toward the goal of producing commercial-scale fusion energy by the early 2030s. However, Google and TAE’s partnership actually dates all the way back to 2014, when the two companies first paired up to apply machine learning to advance plasma research.
Investors got a preview of what nuclear fusion could mean for Alphabet’s share price when the stock jumped 5% the day the initial fusion breakthrough was announced in December 2022. In a fusion arms race that involves extremely advanced technology, Alphabet’s industry-leading artificial intelligence technology could give TAE the edge in cracking the fusion code in the next several years.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
Microsoft is the world’s largest software company, best known for its Windows, Office and Azure products. Microsoft is exposed to nuclear fusion in several different ways. In addition to backing TAE Technologies, Microsoft has a power purchase deal with Helion Energy to provide Microsoft with fusion power by around 2028.
One of Helion’s earliest and largest financial backers was Sam Altman, the CEO of AI technology company OpenAI. OpenAI is best known as the developer of the ChatGPT platform. Microsoft has invested $13 billion in OpenAI and has integrated ChatGPT into its Bing search engine.
Some AI technology experts believe AI will be the key to solving the nuclear fusion problem and unlocking its full potential. Given its relationships with Helion, OpenAI and Sam Altman, Microsoft could play a central role in fusion’s future.
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Nuclear Fusion: 5 Ways to Invest in the Energy Breakthrough originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 10/09/24: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
