Tokamak Energy launches U.S. expansion following its American-based subsidiary’s selection for an award as part of the Department of Energy (DOE) multimillion-dollar Fusion Development Program and partnership with General Atomics on advanced magnet technology.
Dr Michael Ginsberg will lead the growth of the company’s U.S. market as President of Tokamak Energy Inc., which will play a pivotal role in delivering the White House’s bold decadal vision for clean and secure commercial fusion power.
The DOE’s fusion program was established to support a select group of private companies in bringing fusion energy toward technical and commercial viability. It was recently followed by a new fusion energy International Engagement Plan announced by U.S. Special Presidential Climate Envoy John Kerry at COP28 last week.
Dr Ginsberg has more than a decade of global industry experience in the sustainable energy sectors. As Vice President of Technology at Avina Clean Hydrogen, he led the system integration and project execution for high power green hydrogen plants, and was instrumental in its ongoing capital raise.
His previous roles include Vice President of Energy Transition at national public engineering firm Bowman Consulting Group, where he grew energy services and advised on several multimillion-dollar acquisitions. He served as a solar energy specialist for the U.S. Department of State, and advisor for the UC Berkeley community microgrid project, EcoBlock. He is also the author of two books on renewable energy.
Warrick Matthews, Tokamak Energy CEO, said: “Tokamak Energy is a global leader in fusion and magnet technologies and our DOE award has given us a great opportunity to grow our presence and capability in the United States. Today’s key appointment builds on strong foundations to deliver clean, secure, affordable fusion power to the world, addressing the twin challenges of energy security and climate change.”
Michael Ginsberg said: “Fusion power represents the promise of a clean and energy-secure future. Tokamak Energy’s world-leading technology will grant the U.S. energy independence and revolutionise energy-intensive industries. We are delighted to be participating in the DOE Milestone Driven Fusion Development Program – a 10-year race to deliver a prototype fusion power plant.”
Tokamak Energy is the only private company with more than 10 years’ experience of designing, building and operating tokamaks. It already has strong links with U.S. National Laboratories, including Oak Ridge, Sandia, Princeton and Los Alamos, as well as the University of Illinois.
In addition, Tokamak Energy and General Atomics signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate in the rapid-growth area of high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet technology for fusion energy and other applications in fields such as aviation, naval, space and medical.
Tokamak Energy has previously received eight awards through the U.S. Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) program, including two in 2023. The INFUSE programme was established in 2019 to accelerate fusion energy development through public-private research partnerships.
Tokamak Energy is the first private fusion company to reach a plasma ion temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius in its ST40 tokamak, six times hotter than the sun and the threshold for commercial fusion. ST40 also achieved the highest triple product by a private company. Triple product is a widely recognised industry measure of plasma density, temperature and confinement, collectively a key measure of progress on the path to realising commercial fusion energy.
