Helion Energy announced today that it has broken ground on what it hopes will be the world’s first commercial fusion energy plant, designed to harness the same nuclear reactions that fuel the sun and stars.
The facility will be located in Central Washington near the Columbia River and the town of Malaga.
“Today is an important day — not just for Helion, but for the entire fusion industry — as we unleash a new era of energy independence and industrial renewal,” said David Kirtley, co-founder and CEO of Helion, in a statement.
“Since we founded the company, we have been completely focused on preparing fusion technology for commercialization and getting electrons on the grid,” he added. “Starting site work brings us one step closer to that vision.”
Helion seeks to unlock nearly limitless energy by fusing atomic nuclei together and capturing the energy they release. For decades, researchers and companies have pursued this goal, but none have achieved the crucial milestone of producing more energy than their fusion reactions consume.
The potential payoff, however, is so irresistible that dozens of ventures worldwide are working toward the goal, funded by billions of dollars from private investments and government coffers. In the past 12 months alone, investors pumped $2.5 billion into fusion companies globally, according to a July report from the Fusion Industry Association.
Two years ago, Helion and Microsoft signed a historic deal in which the cloud company agreed to buy power from the fusion company’s first facility, which is scheduled to start operating in 2028. The timeline is wildly ambitious.
Helion is building a 50 megawatt reactor that, if it works, would power Microsoft data centers in the region. The entire tech sector is scrambling for new clean energy sources to power the computers that support artificial intelligence.
“Fusion represents an inspiring frontier in the world’s pursuit of clean and abundant power,” said Melanie Nakagawa, Microsoft’s chief sustainability officer. “While the path to commercial fusion is still unfolding, we’re proud to support Helion’s pioneering work here in Washington state as part of our broader commitment to investing in sustainable energy.”
For the Malaga facility, Helion is leasing land from the Chelan County Public Utilities District (PUD). The company said it’s working on additional permitting processes to construct and operate a commercial fusion power plant.
Helion, which is based just north of Seattle in Everett, Wash., has spent 12 years on R&D and building prototypes in preparation for this deployment. It has raised more than $1 billion from investors including Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO and co-founder, as well as SoftBank, Lightspeed Venture Partners, a university endowment and others.
The company is in the No. 2 spot on the GeekWire 200, a ranking of Pacific Northwest startups.
Keep scrolling for more photos.
Read the full article here
