ITER is an experimental fusion project intended to bridge the gap between existing research devices and future demonstration power plants. The project says it will not convert the fusion energy it produces into electricity for the grid. It should not be described as an operating commercial power station. ITER project explanation
ITER’s design goal is a tenfold ratio of fusion power to external heating power: 500 megawatts of fusion power from 50 megawatts of heating input. Those are experimental plasma-performance targets, not a claim of 500 megawatts of net electricity delivered to customers.
The project aims to investigate a burning plasma, in which heating from fusion reactions plays a major role in sustaining the conditions required for the reaction. Demonstrating and studying that behavior is a research objective on the path toward later power-plant development.
An International Atomic Energy Agency account of demonstration-plant planning describes further engineering and development challenges on the route to commercial electricity. Experimental success, demonstration-plant design and commercial operation are separate milestones. Reporting should identify which stage a source actually documents. IAEA roadmap account
Archive note: the earlier operating commercial fusion plant in South Korea and its output figures were not substantiated.