DAVOS: Fusion energy is closer to commercial reality than many assume, and countries in the Gulf could be among those best positioned to benefit if they move early, executives at Commonwealth Fusion Systems told Arab News in Davos.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Rick Needham, chief commercial officer at CFS, said that the company was on track to demonstrate net energy gain from fusion within the next two years. “We are building a demonstration device right now outside of Boston,” he said.
“That’s expected to turn on in 2027 and hit net energy gain, producing more energy out of the reaction than goes in,” he added.
“If you’ve ever played the video game SimCity, fusion is the last card you play,” Needham said.
“You build coal, oil and gas, and then there’s a fusion power plant. Once you get fusion, the game is essentially won.
“From a fuel perspective, fusion is effectively a limitless energy source, the fuel comes from water, it’s abundant, and it’s available everywhere, which fundamentally changes the energy equation.”
For Middle Eastern economies investing heavily in artificial intelligence, data centres and next-generation infrastructure, Needham argues that fusion represents not just a clean energy source, but a competitive advantage.
“If you want to be a leader in AI, you have to be a leader in energy,” he said. “Power has become the binding constraint.”
And CFS believes commercial fusion is now within reach.
The company is currently building SPARC, the demonstration fusion device outside Boston. It will generate about 100 megawatts of thermal power, paving the way for CFS’s first commercial power plant, ARC, a 400-megawatt net facility planned in Virginia through a partnership with Dominion Energy.
Google has already committed to purchase half of ARC’s output. Construction is expected to begin around 2028, with power coming online in the early 2030s, they explained to Arab News.
Jennifer Ganten, chief global affairs officer at CFS, said that fusion’s shift from theory to execution is what sets this moment apart.
“We use a magnetic confinement approach known as a tokamak, which has been studied and built for decades,” she said. “What hasn’t existed before is a design optimised for commercial power.”
She continued: “For us, this is no longer a physics challenge, it’s an engineering and systems integration challenge, and those are problems we know how to solve.”
That distinction, she said, is why fusion has started appearing more prominently on policy and investment agendas, including in the Middle East.
“Energy demand is rising everywhere, and the push for AI leadership is accelerating that,” Ganten said. “Fusion has begun to feature not just at energy conferences, but at forums like COP in Dubai and here at Davos.”
A critical factor in determining where fusion plants are ultimately built will be regulation and how quickly governments move to put frameworks in place.
“Fusion should not be regulated like nuclear fission,” Ganten said. “There’s no chain reaction, no risk of meltdown, and no long-lived radioactive waste.”
She pointed to the UK and US, which regulate fusion similarly to particle accelerators, as early movers. Germany, Canada and Japan have since followed.
“Getting regulation right makes a country an attractive market for deployment,” she said. “It lowers cost, reduces timelines and signals seriousness.”
Needham said that the difference is material. “Instead of five to ten years and hundreds of millions of dollars for licensing, fusion projects can move in roughly 12 to 18 months,” he said. “That changes everything.”
For Gulf states accustomed to long-term energy planning, both executives stressed that waiting for fusion to be fully proven could mean missing out on early deployment.
“If you wait until fusion is obvious, you’re at the back of the queue,” Needham said.
“The countries that start preparing now, with regulation, grid planning, supply chains, they will be at the front.”
Ganten agreed. “Once fusion is demonstrated at scale, demand will spike very quickly,” she said. “The jurisdictions that created the right conditions early will secure the first plants.”
Beyond decarbonization, fusion offers energy security, a powerful proposition for governments seeking resilience in a volatile geopolitical climate.
“Fusion breaks the link between energy and fragile global fuel supply chains,” Needham said.
For Middle Eastern economies balancing growth, sustainability and technological ambition, fusion may not just be a future option, but a strategic decision about when to get in line.
As Needham puts it, getting fusion can “win you the game.”