Does the controllable nuclear fusion industry enter a boom period as CNPC invests 3 billion yuan?
01
On June 17th, CNPC Capital, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), announced that the company plans to jointly increase capital in its affiliated company, Kunlun Capital, with CNPC and PetroChina in equal proportions for investment in the controlled nuclear fusion project.
As a result, among the three major shareholders of Kunlun Capital, CNPC holds 51%, PetroChina holds 29%, and CNPC Capital holds 20%. The corresponding amounts of this capital increase are 1.6705 billion yuan, 949.5 million yuan, and 655 million yuan respectively, totaling 3.275 billion yuan.
The announcement stated that this capital increase by the three shareholders, CNPC, PetroChina, and CNPC Capital, in Kunlun Capital is for the strategic layout of emerging industries, to fully explore the opportunities for strategic transformation in the energy and chemical industries. It is conducive to optimizing the business layout, expanding growth space, etc., and will also enhance the industry competitive advantage and potential profitability of "Kunlun Capital".
As early as 2024, Kunlun Capital began to layout in the field of controlled nuclear fusion. The company plans to contribute 2.9 billion yuan to acquire a 20% stake in Fusion New Energy, with the subscribed capital contribution date set for June 30, 2025.
Fusion New Energy mentioned on its official website that the company follows a three - step strategy of "Compact Fusion Experiment Device (BEST) - Fusion Engineering Demonstration Reactor (CFEDR) - First Commercial Fusion Reactor" to systematically layout the full - chain development path of experimental research, engineering demonstration, and commercial application. Currently, among the six major shareholders of Fusion New Energy, in addition to Kunlun Capital, four companies with Anhui state - owned asset backgrounds, including Hefei Science Island Holdings, hold a total of 75%, and the remaining 5% is held by Weiju Technology (Anhui), a wholly - owned subsidiary of NIO Holdings.
As the ultimate energy solution for humanity, controlled nuclear fusion has significant advantages such as abundant energy, zero emissions, and high safety. The energy released by the fusion of 1g of deuterium - tritium is equivalent to 11.2 tons of standard coal, far exceeding that of nuclear fission and fossil fuels. It is a strategic choice for achieving the "dual carbon" goal.
In terms of technology, as of now, China has taken the international lead in the field of controlled nuclear fusion and is rapidly advancing towards the combustion experiment stage. Taking the new - generation artificial sun, "China's HL - 2M Tokamak", as an example, it is China's largest - scale and highest - parameter magnetic - confinement advanced Tokamak large - scale scientific device. Since its completion in December 2020, this device has repeatedly refreshed the operating records of China's controlled nuclear fusion devices.
In 2024, "China's HL - 2M Tokamak" achieved an advanced magnetic field structure for the first time internationally, which is of great significance for improving the control and operation capabilities. In 2025, the device achieved a major breakthrough of reaching an ion temperature of 117 million degrees Celsius and an electron temperature of 160 million degrees Celsius, the so - called "double - hundred - million - degree" breakthrough, and thus officially entered the combustion experiment stage. Currently, how long is it until the commercial "gold rush" of controlled nuclear fusion?
Analysts pointed out that the fusion path is currently in the process of transformation from "fusion reaction" to "engineering". The technical path of controlled nuclear fusion from the experimental reactor to the engineering reactor/demonstration reactor and then to the commercial reactor is in line with China's three - step rhythm for nuclear energy towards "thermal reactor (pressurized water reactor) - fast reactor - fusion reactor".
According to analysis, controlled nuclear fusion is currently in the critical stage from the combustion test to the reactor engineering test. It is expected that from 2026 to 2027, the SPARC project in the United States and the BEST device plan in China may achieve this goal. From 2040 to 2050, controlled nuclear fusion will finally be commercialized.
In terms of investment, both official and private sectors in various countries are continuously increasing their investment and support for controlled nuclear fusion. Currently, overseas regions such as the United States and Europe have accelerated the progress through private enterprise financing and government projects, and China will enter a period of intensive investment in the next five years.
Since 2024, the private equity market in the United States has continued its crazy investment in nuclear fusion, with a cumulative financing of over $12 billion, accounting for 62% of the global share. Among them, Helion Energy's single - round financing of $1.7 billion set a new industry record.
02
Currently, the layout of China's nuclear fusion industry is becoming increasingly clear: on one side is the "national team" led by the government, and on the other side are the rapidly emerging commercial companies.
Regarding the national team, currently in China, it is mainly led by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The BEST device of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is currently in the intensive bidding stage, and the investment amount for a single experimental reactor ranges from several billion yuan to tens of billions of yuan.
The Hefei Institute of Physical Science independently designed, constructed, and operates the world's first fully superconducting non - circular cross - section Tokamak nuclear fusion experimental device (EAST). In January 2025, it achieved a 1066 - second long - pulse high - confinement mode plasma operation, breaking the world record. Currently, the Compact Fusion Energy Experiment Device (BEST) started its general assembly in May 2025 and has now entered the intensive bidding period, and is expected to be completed in 2027.
In May this year, CNNC revealed that the new - generation artificial sun, "China's HL - 2M Tokamak", achieved a million - ampere, hundred - million - degree H - mode, that is, it simultaneously achieved a plasma current of 1 million amperes, an ion temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius, and high - confinement mode operation, setting a new record for China's fusion device operation.
It is reported that the level of a nuclear fusion device and nuclear fusion research is mainly measured by three parameters: the temperature, density, and energy confinement time of plasma ions. When the product of these three parameters reaches a certain value, a nuclear fusion reaction can be achieved. This is the famous "fusion triple product". The comprehensive parameter of the "China's HL - 2M Tokamak", the fusion triple product, reached a new high, reaching the order of 10 to the 20th power, marking that China's fusion has rapidly advanced into the combustion experiment stage.
At the same time, CNNC and CNPC jointly invested 14.5 billion yuan to establish Fusion New Energy Company, focusing on the engineering development of controlled nuclear fusion. According to the plan, the HL - 2M Tokamak is expected to enter the release stage around 2045. The Starfire No. 1 project jointly promoted by CNNC and Lianchuang Optoelectronics has a total investment of 20 billion yuan and is planned to achieve commercial power generation in 2029.
In addition, in February this year, state - owned enterprise China National Nuclear Power and Zhejiang Energy Electric Power respectively announced that they plan to participate in China Fusion Energy Co., Ltd. through capital increase, with investment amounts of 1 billion yuan and 750 million yuan respectively.
Commercial companies mostly adopt the model of "small artificial suns". By developing small, modular fusion reactors, they complement the advantages of the "national team", inject new vitality into the market, and expand more innovative business models.
"In this regard, American companies started the earliest. The Tokamak project SPARC of Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), a spin - off company from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is expected to be completed this year. Helion Energy, invested in by OpenAI, is developing the magneto - inertial confinement route." Ye Yuming, the co - founder of Energy Singularity, introduced in an interview with the media at the beginning of this year that China's commercial companies in the field of controlled nuclear fusion started later than those in the United States, but have developed rapidly in recent years. In just three or four years, several startup companies have engaged in R & D on multiple technical routes and have achieved late - comer advantages in some aspects. For example, the "Jingtian Magnet" independently developed by Energy Singularity generated a magnetic field of 21.7 Tesla in the first - round current - passing experiment, surpassing the benchmark company CFS.
Currently, two private enterprises founded in 2021 in China have also performed well in the R & D of controlled nuclear fusion technology: the toroidal magnetic field index of the SUNIST - 2 device of Xinghuan Jueneng Company reached the world - leading level in the field of spherical Tokamaks in 2023. Energy Singularity completed the world's first fully high - temperature superconducting Tokamak device, "Honghuang 70", in 2024 and refreshed the world record for the magnetic field strength in the current - passing experiment previously held by an American company this year.
Analysis reports from multiple securities firms point out that controlled nuclear fusion is a long - term area where countries compete for energy. Since the beginning of this year, China's controlled nuclear fusion field has entered a cycle of expanding capital expenditure. China's controlled nuclear fusion is currently in the stages of experimental reactor construction and engineering reactor verification. It is optimistic that the nuclear fusion industry is expected to enter a period of intensive capital expenditure during the 14th Five - Year Plan period, and investment opportunities brought about by the expansion of capital expenditure in the controlled nuclear fusion sector are promising.
Overall, with the active layout of various countries, it is expected that the global market scale of nuclear fusion devices will reach 2.26 trillion yuan from 2030 to 2035. Although large - scale commercial power generation has not been achieved yet, scientific research results are constantly emerging, and the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain are closely cooperating. From raw material supply to equipment manufacturing and then to system integration, the market scale continues to expand, and commercialization is undoubtedly getting closer.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Foreseeing Energy", author: Yang Rui, published by 36Kr with authorization.