Japan Selects Four Companies for Fusion Power Program

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has conditionally selected EX-Fusion, Helical Fusion, Linea Innovation, and Starlight Engine to participate in a fusion program targeting reactor operation in the 2030s.

The program will provide approximately $370 million, equivalent to around €318 million, in subsidies to selected projects by the end of February 2029. Specific funding allocations are still subject to formal grant decisions. The support corresponds to commitments in Japan's 2023 fusion strategy, which sets out the goal of achieving fusion power generation in the 2030s.

Under METI's vision, the program will validate the technical feasibility, market potential, and economic viability of fusion power systems, while supporting R&D of key technologies for commercial fusion power plants. The projects span multiple technical routes, including tokamaks, stellarators, and laser fusion.

Japan aims to advance fusion from laboratory research toward future power-generating systems led by private developers. To this end, METI's support framework ties funding disbursement to specific technical milestones and commercialization targets. Selected projects must not only demonstrate the ability to sustain fusion conditions but also address issues such as plant safety, maintenance requirements, and community relations at future facility sites.

Helical Fusion, one of the four selected companies, stated that it plans to use the subsidies to advance its Helix program. The program includes research on high-temperature superconducting magnets, blanket, and divertor technologies, and preparation for integrated demonstration in the 2030s.

Helical Fusion CEO Takashi Taguchi said the subsidy program is designed to determine which technologies genuinely hold realistic potential for power plant realization, and that Helical Fusion has consistently selected and developed technologies against this criterion.