Israeli compact fusion energy company nT-Tao has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mekorot, Israel's national water company, to explore the potential of fusion energy as a power source for water and wastewater facilities.
The agreement establishes a framework for technical collaboration and includes plans to create a dedicated research and development centre and pilot facility. This will serve as the first site to test and validate nT-Tao's next-generation fusion systems under actual infrastructure operating conditions, including a final core configuration.
Under the terms of the MoU, both organisations will work together to assess how fusion-based technology could meet the power demands of water facilities such as desalination plants and wastewater treatment sites. The collaboration is structured in phases, with 2026 earmarked for preliminary technical and feasibility studies, alongside early business alignment under a Strategic Design Partner framework.
Fusion reactions have been achieved experimentally, but net energy gain at whole-facility level, let alone commercial power generation, has never been achieved
The partnership addresses a growing challenge for water utilities: energy-intensive operations requiring continuous, stable power. Mekorot is Israel's largest civilian energy consumer, with power demand accounting for roughly 4% of total national consumption and annual electricity costs approaching NIS 1 billion (approximately USD 336 million). Securing cost-effective and reliable energy, including alternatives for emergency scenarios, is a central priority for the company.
"Our collaboration with nT-Tao will allow us to explore how fusion energy could help address the significant and growing power needs of critical water and wastewater systems," said Yossi Yaacoby, VP of Engineering and Innovation at Mekorot.
nT-Tao's approach centres on a compact, modular fusion system designed for on-site deployment in industrial and infrastructure settings where uninterrupted baseload power is essential. It is worth noting that while fusion reactions have been achieved experimentally since the 1950s, and a landmark 2022 experiment at the US National Ignition Facility produced more energy from a fusion reaction than the laser energy used to trigger it, no facility has yet achieved net energy gain when accounting for total electricity consumed in the process. ITER, the international megaproject under construction in France involving 34 nations and designed to demonstrate sustained net energy at scale, has faced repeated delays and now targets the start of research operations in 2034, with energy-producing reactions not expected until 2039.
Commercial fusion power generation remains some way off, with industry projections generally placing the first commercial plants no earlier than the mid-2030s.
"These systems cannot tolerate interruptions, volatility, or uncertainty in power supply," said Oded Gour-Lavie, CEO and Co-Founder of nT-Tao. "Partnering with Mekorot and Israel's National Water Carrier allows us to develop fusion technology directly aligned with real-world infrastructure requirements."
For nT-Tao, the collaboration with Mekorot offers something arguably as valuable as funding: a real-world infrastructure environment in which to develop and validate its technology against the demanding operational requirements of critical national infrastructure.
