Pacific Fusion to set up shop in Los Lunas as construction of Mesa del Sol campus gets underway

Los Lunas will be home to Pacific Fusion’s first New Mexico build center by year’s end, where the team will manufacture components for its demonstration system.

Pacific Fusion, a California-based nuclear fusion energy company, selected Albuquerque’s Mesa del Sol for its $1 billion research and manufacturing campus, where the demonstration system will be located, beating out California cities Alameda and Livermore.

“We are moving quickly to build the future of fusion energy in New Mexico, and that starts with this build center,” Carrie von Muench, co-founder and chief operating officer of Pacific Fusion, said in a statement. “We’re grateful for the partnership of the village of Los Lunas. We will begin hiring for skilled roles immediately.”

In the first announcement since the September selection, officials said the 200,000-square-foot build center will be located and leased in the Los Morros Business Park. Pacific Fusion expects the facility to be in operation by the end of the year and is currently looking to hire 30 to 40 employees. Officials did not disclose the costs of the center.

Victoria Archuleta, village of Los Lunas senior economic developer, told the Journal that the existing building Pacific Fusion is leasing used to be a Merillat Cabinetry manufacturing site. She said the city did not offer any kind of incentives, and the company is acting as a “normal tenant.”

“Now that they’re here in Los Lunas, it’s important for us to lean into looking at who some of their suppliers are,” Archuleta said. “Looking at the supply chain and who might want to set up shop next to them. We’re definitely open to looking into that and welcoming additional business that would support that clean energy development.”

Expected to be operational by 2027, Pacific Fusion officials anticipate the Albuquerque campus will bring more than 200 jobs across research, engineering, manufacturing and technical fields.

Over the next decade, officials also project that the combined facilities will generate more than $1.2 billion in economic impact, including $57 million in direct benefits to New Mexico, Bernalillo and Valencia counties, and the cities of Albuquerque and Los Lunas.

In the competition to be chosen, Albuquerque city councilors unanimously approved $776.6 million in industrial revenue bonds for the Pacific Fusion site just over a week before the company made its selection. The IRBs grant Pacific Fusion tax exemptions for 20 years, and the company is getting $10 million in economic development incentives for the buildout of the main facility.

The company’s quick search for a viable site was due in large part to the more than $900 million in Series A funding Pacific Fusion received last year from venture capital firms General Catalyst and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, among others.

Founded in 2023, Pacific Fusion is working to “power the world” with abundant and affordable fusion energy, offering on-demand power without carbon emissions, long-lived radioactive waste or dependence on intermittent resources.

Archuleta acknowledged that Pacific Fusion’s selection of Los Lunas for the build center is a “big deal.” She said Los Lunas, which also houses a Meta Platforms Inc. data center campus, is the first to see the ripple effects of New Mexico’s winning bid.

“As one of New Mexico’s fastest-growing communities, we’re excited to see Pacific Fusion join our family of forward-thinking employers who are shaping the future of technology, opportunity, and prosperity right here in Los Lunas,” Los Lunas Mayor Charles Griego said in a statement.