Realta Fusion and Commonwealth Fusion Systems have made a long-term strategic partnership for the design and manufacturing of high-temperature superconducting magnets that Realta will use to accelerate the commercialization of its compact, scalable and modular CoSMo fusion energy systems that use magnetic mirror technology. The deal represents a second case where CFS is selling its powerful magnet and superconducting technology to other fusion developers.
Realta’s magnetic mirror concept confines a plasma between two high field superconducting magnets, now to be produced by CFS. The strong magnetic fields cause charged, energetic particles to bounce back and forth, known as the mirror effect.
CFS will develop magnets for Realta’s demonstration prototypes as well as its commercial fusion power plants under the agreement, which has the potential to reach a multi-billion dollar value. The partnership also includes talent-sharing of CFS expertise to support the design, manufacturing, deployment and operation of HTS magnets for magnetic mirror fusion systems. The arrangement was announced April 2.
“Commercializing magnetic mirror fusion systems requires integrating multiple cutting-edge technologies. By working with the world’s leading HTS magnet manufacturer, we are significantly de-risking one of the most critical of these technologies,” said Realta Fusion CEO Kieran Furlong. “Knowing that we can get the magnets we need, when we need them, from the best developed supply chain, is a huge leap forward for Realta.”
The partnership formalizes a long relationship between the Realta and CFS teams that dates to 2020, when the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy funded the University of Wisconsin-Madison to build the Wisconsin HTS Axisymmetric Mirror (WHAM) experiment. Realta spun out of the initiative in 2022, and CFS provided WHAM with the HTS magnets used to confine its first plasma at a world-record breaking magnetic field strength in 2024.
Along with raising nearly $3 billion in capital since its founding in 2018, CFS has developed an innovative, powerful magnet technology that it believes will enable the fastest path to commercial fusion energy. The magnets are the key technology breakthrough for CFS, which is using the tokamak approach to fusion. In the past, limitations on magnet technology required tokamaks to be enormous in size to achieve the magnetic field needed to achieve net energy. CFS, in collaboration with MIT, has developed high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets that allow for significantly stronger magnetic fields that can enable smaller, high performing fusion systems at significantly lower cost. The key innovation, says the company, are high-temperature superconductors that can drive the powerful magnets to run its fusion machines.
“As the world leader in HTS magnet technology development and manufacturing, we are pleased to share our expertise with Realta, and give our growing industry another promising technological opportunity to bring fusion energy to the grid,” said Bob Mumgaard, CEO and Co-founder of CFS. “This partnership allows Realta to tap into the world-class supply chain we built to support our advanced manufacturing capabilities, and that will help it to bring commercial fusion energy to the grid faster.”
According to an article in Tech Crunch, the recent deal suggests that CFS will lean heavily on its magnet technology in the coming years to bring in much-needed revenue. “It’s the largest deal of this kind to date for CFS,” Rick Needham, the company’s chief commercial officer, told reporters on a call.
The earlier deal came in February 2025, when CFS and Type One Energy announced an agreement to provide Type One a license to use HTS cable technology from CFS in the development of Type One’s proprietary stellarator fusion magnets. In Type One’s stellarator approach, twisted magnetic fields keep fuel particles from drifting away from where they fuse.
In a partnership with Tennessee Valley Authority, Type One is developing plans for a 350-megawatt fusion pilot power plant, named Infinity Two in a re-purposed power plant, Bull Run Fossil Fuel Plant, that was decommissioned three years ago after 56 years in operation. The new plant could offer a complementary source of baseload electrical generation for the region as early as the mid-2030s.
For more info, see www.cfs.energy, www.rialtafusion.com, www.typeoneenergy.com.
