ENERGY
In Albuquerque, Pacific Fusion looks to build 鈥榩ractical basis鈥� for commercial fusion power
Company breaks ground Tuesday on its $1 billion research and manufacturing campus at Mesa del Sol
Rob Black, secretary of the New Mexico Economic Development Department, recalled the first time he heard of Pacific Fusion 鈥� a California company whose goal is to harness fusion to provide humanity a limitless supply of clean energy.
Black said Melanie Kenderdine, former secretary of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, wrote him an email in March 2025 saying that Black should reach out to Pacific Fusion, which was looking for a location for a planned research and demonstration facility.
鈥淭his is a key part of how we鈥檙e thinking about the next frontier and how we鈥檙e thinking about the science and technology roadmap鈥� for New Mexico, Black said. He added that hard technology 鈥� making things 鈥� is where New Mexico can succeed. 鈥淲e weren鈥檛 going to be the winner in software and services.鈥�
On Tuesday, Pacific Fusion will break ground on that site, a $1 billion research and manufacturing campus in Mesa del Sol. The company hopes to achieve what is called net facility gain 鈥� when a nuclear fusion reaction produces more energy than is delivered into it 鈥� by 2030 at the site.
Black said his department spent six months working with a variety of stakeholders 鈥� the city of Albuquerque, the State Investment Council and economic development officials 鈥� to find a spot for an energy company that is promising to achieve what could be a game-changing scientific development.
鈥淚 think it was a combination of ensuring access to capital, a workforce that works for them, and our ability to find locations to get them permitted and approved within six months,鈥� Black said, recalling how the state recruited the company. 鈥淪o that speed to market was very, very important to them.鈥�
In September, the company was awarded $776.6 million in industrial revenue bonds 鈥� which effectively grants the company certain tax exemptions for 20 years 鈥� for the project. The state and city also secured $10 million in Local Economic Development Act funds for the expansion.
And the state has committed nearly $4 million to the company through the Job Training Incentive Program, which reimburses the wages of employees for certain amounts of time for businesses that relocate to or expand in New Mexico.
In Los Lunas, Pacific Fusion employs 73 workers at a production site, 95% of them from New Mexico. There, workers are building components for the demonstration facility at Mesa del Sol, which is expected to have roughly 200 full-time employees.
Black said Pacific Fusion was worried about expanding to a state outside Silicon Valley 鈥� away from the various venture funds that could pump money into the technology. So officials turned to the State Investment Council, which itself invests in venture funds.
Pacific Fusion, Black noted, received funds from four different SIC-backed companies.
New Mexico鈥檚 national labs also helped. In fact, the pulse power technology that Pacific Fusion is using came out of .
Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich is appearing at Pacific Fusion鈥檚 groundbreaking. He will speak on a panel with former Google CEO and chairman of Pacific Fusion鈥檚 board, Eric Schmidt.
Heinrich, a ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and founder of the Senate Fusion Caucus, called Pacific Fusion鈥檚 investment in New Mexico 鈥渁 testament to the strength of our state鈥檚 workforce and national labs.鈥�
鈥淔usion has the potential to transform how we power our economy, in addition to its role in strengthening our national security,鈥� Heinrich said.
Other big names will appear at the event, including Democratic U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado; Brandon Williams, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration; and Laura McGill, director of Sandia National Laboratories.
in California has achieved fusion ignition, Carrie von Muench, co-founder and chief operating officer of Pacific Fusion, said in an interview. But, she noted, that has yet to be done in a commercial setting.
鈥淥ur goal is to achieve that objective with an affordable, modular, mass-manufacturable system that鈥檚 actually a practical basis for scalable and deployable fusion power 鈥� and that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e doing in Mesa del Sol,鈥� she said.
This story has been updated.
Justin Horwath covers tech and energy for the Journal. You can reach him at jhorwath@abqjournal.com.
