Former BP CEO Looney Joins Board of Fusion Power Developer

Type One Energy Group on Tuesday named Bernard Looney, who resigned as BP PLC chief executive in 2023 as he admitted failing to sufficiently disclose personal relationships with colleagues, to its board of directors.

Looney "brings deep experience in global energy, capital markets, major project delivery, and international partnerships to the company", the Knoxville, Tennessee-based developer of nuclear fusion electricity said in an online statement.

"Looney has more than three decades of experience across the global energy sector, including energy transition leadership at one of the world’s largest integrated energy companies", Type One Energy added.

"He is now focused on the intersection of energy, AI, finance and sustainability, holding Board roles in several transformative energy and AI companies".

Looney said, “Fusion will unquestionably be one of the defining energy technologies of this century. Type One Energy stands out because it is focused on developing and deploying fusion through a network of industrial partnerships that help derisk and shorten the journey to commercialization".

Type One Energy is developing a stellarator power plant, which it says offers the fastest track to commercial nuclear fusion power. "Stellarators use precisely shaped magnetic fields to achieve commercially viable fusion plasma performance", it said. "They are the only fusion technology to demonstrate stable, continuous operation at large scale.

"Modern supercomputers, advanced manufacturing techniques, and high-temperature superconducting magnets now enable the efficient design and practical construction of commercially viable stellarator fusion power plants".

Type One Energy plans to start construction at a 400-megawatt facility at Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Bull Run site in East Tennessee in 2028 to deploy the technology. The company said it has executed initial agreements with TVA.

"[T]he company confirms its plan to bring commercial fusion power to the grid by 2034 and prepares to close its Series B funding round", Tuesday's statement said. "The company is also initiating procurement for its Infinity One prototype project in East Tennessee and recently launched the UK Infinity Fusion Consortium with strong government support in the United Kingdom".

Looney had quit BP after he acknowledged failing to be sufficiently transparent during BP's review in 2022 of his "personal relationships with company colleagues", according to a BP statement September 12, 2023.

Looney during the review "disclosed a small number of historical relationships with colleagues prior to becoming CEO", BP said. BP found no breach of its code of conduct during the review.

However, the September 2023 announcement of his resignation said, "He did not provide details of all relationships and accepts he was obligated to make more complete disclosure".

"Further allegations of a similar nature were received recently, and the Company immediately began investigating with the support of external legal counsel", BP said.

BP later concluded Looney had misled its board and therefore committed "serious misconduct" by withholding information about his personal relationships within the company, according to a BP statement December 13, 2023.

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