Mizuho bank goes into nuclear fusion power with Zap Energy

Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (President & Group CEO: Masahiro Kihara) has bought a stake in US firm Zap Energy (President: Benj Conway), a company developing fusion power and related technology.

The investment was carried out through Mizuho's specialist investment subsidiary Mizuho Innovation Frontier Co., Ltd. (President & CEO: Junichi Ikeda).

Investment purpose
In pursuing carbon neutrality, it is important to create new demand and markets in the decarbonization area, while also progressing in areas such as the global clean energy transition.

In fusion power generation, a colossal amount of energy is created by the fusion of light atomic nuclei to produce heavier ones. This power generation method is a potential game changer for the clean energy transition, as greenhouse gases are not emitted and it is a sustainable energy source.

Mizuho has deepened its understanding of related technology and industry trends, releasing a report entitled Recent Trends Surrounding Fusion Energy Power Generation: The path to commercialization of fusion energy power generation through the Mizuho Bank Industry Research Department and a technical report on understanding nuclear fusion and how the fusion process inside the sun can be realized on earth through Mizuho Research & Technologies.

Zap Energy, in which Mizuho has newly invested, utilizes a fusion power generation system called “Z pinch”, which it is making efforts to commercialize. It was established in 2017 as a spin-off from a research institution jointly founded by the University of Washington and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The fusion reactor the company aims to produce does not employ superconducting magnets, making a small-scale and simple design theoretically viable. Therefore, if successfully commercialized, the product may be competitive from general purpose use and multiple economic perspectives.

Mizuho is engaging in challenging initiatives, including its investment in Zap Energy, and using its accumulated knowledge and experience to create new demand and markets in the decarbonization area and contribute to enhancing Japan’s industrial competitiveness. This will in turn contribute to society’s and corporate clients’ achievement of their carbon neutral goals.

Comments by both companies
Zap Energy (President: Benj Conway)
As Zap Energy's first Japanese investor, Mizuho is supporting Zap Energy to advance our unique, compact technology into an important market for fusion. We are thrilled to be working with Mizuho and its clients as we push to be the first to put fusion power onto the grid.

Mizuho Financial Group (Group Chief Sustainability Officer: Yasuhiko Ushikubo)
We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to the development of fusion power technology through this alliance with Zap Energy. This technology holds the key to unlocking a future for supply of energy in a safe and sustainable manner. We are convinced it constitutes a major step forward in resolving global energy problems. Mizuho aims to contribute to a better future through actively supporting initiatives to realize carbon neutrality for society and corporate clients.