It's Monday. A fusion plant still has to drive its magnets, heat its fuel and run its controls with power electronics, and today's versions were built for EVs and cell towers. Washington just paid to change that, and took a piece of the company doing it.
In today's edition:
🔬 Big Story: Fusion-grade chips get $85M
⚡ Quick Hits: Delta's DC power for AI racks, Italy's solar pace, a cancelled geothermal plan
💰 Capital: $250M for TVA's grid
📋 Policy Watch: permitting deal meets offshore wind, Alabama's data center rules
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The Big Story
Commonwealth Fusion lands $85M to build fusion-grade power electronics
Commonwealth Fusion Systems will receive $85 million through a CHIPS Act award from the Department of Commerce to develop advanced semiconductors and power electronics for fusion plants, TechCrunch reported. The award also gives the government a stake in CFS, and the company said it will boost US semiconductor R&D and manufacturing capacity.
"Ultimately, that means a more capable, economical power plant and a stronger U.S. supply chain to build it." Brandon Sorbom, co-founder and chief science officer, Commonwealth Fusion Systems
The money supports five initiatives, including silicon carbide power electronics that drive the superconducting magnets confining the plasma.
Other named work covers next-generation radio-frequency generators that heat fusion fuel and radiation-hardened electronics for faster reactor control.
CFS also plans to adapt AI hardware such as GPUs and TPUs for power plant use.
CFS aims to turn on its Sparc demonstration reactor next year. The size of the government's stake was not disclosed.
Source: TechCrunch
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Quick Hits
Technology milestones from across the grid
From solid-state transformers to a cancelled geothermal heat plan.
Delta Electronics showed a containerized DC power system for AI data centers at Energy Taiwan, built on a solid-state transformer the company says reaches 98.5% efficiency and lifts grid-to-chip efficiency by 4% to 5%, with trial production of its paired fuel cells targeted by the end of 2026. Power Electronics News
Italy installed 4.83 GW of solar from January through September, up from 4.08 GW a year earlier, with third-quarter additions up 37% and cumulative storage reaching 19.98 GWh. pv magazine
Enercity dropped a planned 30 MW geothermal district heating project in Hanover after Eavor declined to act as investor and developer, though the city's coal exit after winter 2027/28 stays on track with other heat sources. ThinkGeoEnergy
SF6, the potent greenhouse gas used to insulate grid switchgear, is rising around Beijing as China's grid expands, according to new research, which sharpens the case for SF6-free equipment. Inside Climate News
India's Ministry of Power issued a framework to standardize and secure data sharing across the electricity sector, groundwork for the analytics and grid software that depend on utility data. Mercom India
The Capital Stack
DOE puts $250 million behind TVA grid upgrades in eight states
The Department of Energy announced $250 million for 84 transmission and distribution projects across eight states through the Tennessee Valley Authority, T&D World reported. With about $331 million in cost share, the package totals roughly $581 million and is expected to add about 2.5 GW of grid capacity and support about 800 jobs. The projects are selected, and funding remains subject to final agreements and reviews.
Source: T&D World
Also in the capital stack:
Jampur Group, based in the UAE, will restart Mozambique's Beluluane solar module plant, idle since about 2022, in a country that had 175 MW of solar at the end of 2025. pv magazine
Policy Watch
The Senate permitting deal could cut up to eight years from a roughly 18-year transmission timeline, according to a Columbia analysis, but the Justice Department's bid to revisit the permit for the 2 GW New England Wind project threatens it, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse warned, "This is how you blow up a permitting deal." Faster transmission approvals now hinge on the offshore wind fight. Canary Media
Alabama regulators adopted new tariff and contract rules for data centers, but key figures in contracts between data centers and Alabama Power remain confidential, critics say, leaving ratepayers unable to judge who carries the cost of large new loads. Inside Climate News
China's MIIT proposed minimum cell and module efficiency standards by technology, plus energy, water and degradation limits, a move that would push older, less efficient lines out of production. Mercom India
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