Fusion Startup Opens New Livermore Headquarters

LIVERMORE, CA — Inertia Enterprises, a commercial fusion energy company, opened a 50,000-square-foot headquarters in Livermore last Friday in a ceremony attended by Livermore Mayor John Marchand, U.S. Rep Zoe Lofgren, Sen. Jerry McNerney, and other local leaders.

Inertia said that the new headquarters, located on 7800 Las Positas Road right next to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, will become the world’s first fusion target factory containing an advanced laser system designed to support future commercial fusion power plants.

Inertia hopes to contribute to Livermore’s growing reputation as a center of fusion energy research. Fusion works by fusing hydrogen atoms together to release enormous amounts of energy that don’t produce radioactive waste - the same process that powers the sun.

In 2022, scientists at LLNL made history by achieving fusion ignition, meaning they were able to produce more energy from a fusion reaction than was delivered directly to the fuel target. This was hailed internationally as a milestone in the effort to develop fusion as a limitless, pollution-free source of energy.

“Livermore is where fusion ignition first became a reality,” Inertia co-founder and CEO Jeff Lawson said in a statement. “Today, we’re building on that foundation to turn proven physics into commercial fusion energy.”

At the new Livermore facility, the company hopes to develop manufacturing processes needed to mass produce tiny fusion fuel targets and build laser systems that could eventually operate inside commercial plants. Inertia said it also hopes to build a gigawatt-scale fusion power plant capable of supplying electricity to more than one million homes. The company said it hopes the plant will break ground by 2030, and generate power several years later.

Inertia announced rapid growth this year, hiring experts from Apple, Waymo, Halliburton, Kairos and more to help reach these targets. They have also formed a scientific advisory board led by former National Nuclear Security Administration official Marv Adams.

“Commercial fusion won’t be built by physicists alone,” Inertia co-founder and CTO Mike Dunne said in a statement. “We’re bringing together experts in advanced manufacturing, optics, engineering, materials science and production to build the technologies, and the company, to deliver fusion energy at scale.”

Inertia has also partnered with LLNL to use the lab’s fusion research, simulation codes, and technical expertise.

Following the 2022 LLNL breakthrough, Livermore has aimed to become a center of fusion research. The city bid to host a billion-dollar fusion research campus, though it lost to Albuquerque.

“Fusion has the potential to play a major role in our clean energy future,” said Rep. Lofgren, who represents much of Santa Clara County and serves as the Ranking Member on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

“I am incredibly encouraged by the rapid growth we are now seeing in the private sector for fusion, obviously including what’s been going on right here in the Bay Area. This emerging industry is already producing major technical accomplishments as part of our overall national effort. I applaud the Inertia team for taking this leap to turn your major successes into a technology that could truly transform the world.”

SEE ALSO:

• Lawrence Livermore Fusion Breakthrough A Milestone For Clean Energy
• Livermore Loses Bid For $1B Nuclear Fusion Research Center To Albuquerque