Companies in the nuclear fusion industry spent over $500m (€462m) on their supply chain in 2022, a figure that is set to grow to over $7bn by the time a first of a kind plant is deployed.
The nuclear fusion supply chain could potentially be worth trillions of dollars in a mature fusion industry, estimated to be sometime between 2035 and 2050, a Fusion Industry Association (FIA) survey of about 26 private fusion plant developers said.
The US-based FIA warned that fusion companies are getting signals from suppliers that they are reluctant to make the necessary investment right now. Seventy percent of fusion companies said their suppliers see building the capacity to meet future demand as too risky without committed orders.
The FIA made several recommendations to address supplier reluctance, including increased investment, both public and private, into fusion and the potential use of “risk-sharing financing” to enable suppliers to invest in new capacity. Such financing might include fusion investors making investments in key suppliers.