Name
Financing & Building the World’s First Fusion Plants
Date & Time
Tuesday, June 9, 2026, 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM
Speakers
• Charles Boakye, Energy Transition Strategist - Jefferies
• JD Dowell, VP for Operations, Nuclear and Environmental - Fluor
• Andrew Lo, Co-Founder - Rutherford Energy Ventures L.P.
• Ellen Smeele, Chief of Staff - Proxima Fusion
• JD Dowell, VP for Operations, Nuclear and Environmental - Fluor
• Andrew Lo, Co-Founder - Rutherford Energy Ventures L.P.
• Ellen Smeele, Chief of Staff - Proxima Fusion
Description
Capital intensity and first-of-a-kind (FOAK) risk make fusion power plants fundamentally a financing challenge. The structure of capital and allocation of risk at FOAK will determine the timeline and cost of commercial deployment.
- What capital stack – equity, debt, guarantees, incentives, and insurance – can realistically finance a FOAK plant?
- How are construction, technology, and market risks allocated, and at what price?
- Which FOAK proof-points will materially compress cost of capital, timelines, and execution risk for NOAK?
- How can simulation, digital twins, and AI reduce contingencies and improve schedule and cost certainty?
- How do licensing and permitting timelines shape overall project bankability?
Moderated by: Jannet Shimell, Advanced Energy Technologies Director - AtkinsRéalis
Participants include: