PJM queues a fusion project among 810 others

On April 27, PJM Interconnection closed its first full interconnection cycle since 2022. Under a reformed application process, 811 developers submitted generation projects capable of generating 220 gigawatts of electricity. About 400 megawatts of that total share comes from Commonwealth Fusion Systems, which submitted an application for its ARC fusion power plant. This is a notable milestone for the industry: it is the first time a developer has requested to connect a commercial fusion power plant to a major grid.

Interconnection details: This application cycle was the first opportunity in four years for generation projects to submit an application to PJM. In 2022, the grid operator closed its queue to deal with its backlog of projects and revamp its application process.

"PJM and our stakeholders have created a process that gets as many projects approved as quickly and safely as possible," said PJM interim president and CEO David Mills. The company added that this new process is leveraging an AI-enabled tool to help review large volumes of application data more quickly and efficiently.

Of the total 220 gigawatts and 811 projects involved in this new queue, 17.9 gigawatts and 27 projects are categorized as nuclear. (These are exclusively fission-related projects; the single fusion project is categorized as "other.")

An interconnection application represents one of the first steps in getting power to the grid. CFS-along with every other project now in the queue-has years of work with PJM ahead of it before anything is finalized. According to PJM, it is now "beginning a validation phase to confirm which projects have submitted the required technical and financial information to move forward."

CFS added that its application "kicks off a series of deep engineering studies to ensure the grid can safely and reliably handle the influx of the new generating capacity and energy being provided and assess whether any network upgrades are required."

Nevertheless, the company highlighted that getting into the queue this early keeps it on track for delivering electricity in the early 2030s, as it has now effectively checked the box on one of the unavoidable long-lead-time items that can potentially stand in the way of any grid-related generation project. That particular roadblock has recently been causing issues for another highly anticipated nuclear project: the restart of Crane, formerly Three Mile Island-1. While Constellation aims to restart the reactor by next year, PJM may not be able to connect the unit to the grid until 2031.

Still more to do: Aside from grid worries, CFS still has some monumental tasks to achieve in the next few years. Most pressingly, it needs to build the plant this request was made for. That project will be the first deployment of CFS's magnetic confinement commercial power plant design: ARC. The company plans to break ground on this ARC plant near Richmond, Va., in 2028 and hopes it will be the first step in the deployment of thousands of its fusion power plants.

Before that ground-breaking can occur, the company first must complete the construction of SPARC, the tokamak demonstration with which it aims to achieve Q>1-producing more power than it takes to run the machine.

To learn more about its ongoing work, Nuclear News editor-in-chief Susan Gallier recently spoke with CFS's Lauren Garrison and Ben Byboth. Their full interview can be read on Nuclear Newswire.