In the past couple of years, a significant number of factors have converged, which makes us confident that we can achieve net energy by 2030 and on the grid—and the fusion industry in whole.
First, significant private investment in the fusion industry has increased by 163% in the past two years, and 40 companies are now competing in the race. National governments are also following suit with their public investment. The U.S. government spends the most, with $600 million U.S. to $700 million U.S. per year, and the Inflation Reduction Act is to authorize $280 million U.S. as well for fusion energy. Similarly, the U.K. has invested 400 million pounds.
The Canadian government's investment lags far behind. The existing grant programs have been critical to our success so far, but they are not sufficient to sustain the type of growth for the commercial scale that we are at and this stage in our development. For this reason, we've put a request before the Canadian government for $250 million over five years in exchange for warrants from which the government can make a direct return on its investment, proportionate in many ways to the private investment, and a commitment for us to maintain our headquarters in Canada.
A Canadian moonshot program that directly invests in General Fusion would leverage private sector investment, position the Canadian government as an equity partner—