Century is Zap Energy's power-plant demonstration platform integrating repetitive pulsed power with liquid-bismuth walls; its central stack is close to the size of a planned 50 MWe module. In May 2026 DOE approved Zap's preconceptual pilot plant design (~50 MWe net per module) under the Milestone program.
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Current state
| Status | Operating |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Everett, Washington |
| Developer | Zap Energy |
| Developer type | Private |
| Concept | Z-pinch |
| Fuel | D-T |
| Purpose | Demonstration |
| First plasma | 2024-06-13 |
| Target output (MWe) | 50 |
| Private funding raised | USD 324m (as of 2024-10-15) |
| Public funding | DOE Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program awardee |
Notes
Century is a non-fusion-gain engineering platform (target output refers to the planned plant module, not Century). Funding figure is the sum of disclosed equity rounds.
Timeline
- 2024-06-13 — Century achieved first plasma with flowing liquid metal. (source)
- 2024-10 — Zap unveiled Century after a run of 1,080 consecutive shots and raised a $130 million Series D led by Soros Fund Management. (source)
- 2026-05-19 — DOE approved Zap's preconceptual Z-pinch fusion power plant design report (~50 MWe net per module) under the Milestone program. (source)
The timeline is append-only: corrections are added as new entries. Stated targets appear in the current-state table, never as milestones.
Related projects
- ARC (Commonwealth Fusion Systems) Design · United States
- Athena (Xcimer Energy) Concept · United States
- Copernicus (TAE Technologies) Under construction · United States
- Da Vinci / first utility-scale plant (TAE Technologies) Concept · United States
- Demonstration System (Pacific Fusion) Under construction · United States
- Eos (Thea Energy) Design · United States
- FLARE fusion neutron source (SHINE Technologies) Operating · United States
- FuZE-Q (Zap Energy) Operating · United States
See all 51 projects in the Fusion Energy Companies & Projects Tracker →
Sources
- Zap Energy: $130 Million (Series D) Raised — Pulse 2.0, checked 2026-10-11
- Zap Energy shows off its new fusion power prototype, Century — TechCrunch, checked 2026-10-11
- U.S. Department of Energy Approves Zap Energy's Fusion Pilot Plant Preconceptual Design Milestone — Zap Energy (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Zap Energy — Wikipedia, checked 2026-10-11