Helion, a fusion energy startup based in Everett, Washington, recently achieved a significant milestone in its pursuit of fusion power. The company’s Polaris prototype reactor successfully reached plasma temperatures of 150 million degrees Celsius, a crucial step towards the operation of a commercial fusion power plant.
David Kirtley, Helion’s co-founder and CEO, expressed excitement about this achievement, highlighting the groundbreaking use of deuterium-tritium fuel in the Polaris reactor. This milestone sets Helion apart as the first fusion company to utilize this hydrogen isotope mixture, leading to a substantial increase in fusion power output in the form of heat.
As Helion competes with other companies in the race to commercialize fusion power, investor interest in the technology continues to grow. Inertia Enterprises recently announced a $450 million Series A round, joined by prominent investors like Bessemer and GV. Similarly, Commonwealth Fusion Systems secured $863 million in funding last summer, with support from tech giants like Google and Nvidia.
While most fusion startups target the early 2030s for grid electricity production, Helion has a contract with Microsoft to supply electricity starting in 2028. This agreement pertains to a larger commercial reactor named Orion, currently under construction by Helion.
Helion’s reactor design differs from traditional tokamaks used by other fusion companies. The field-reversed configuration of Helion’s reactor involves injecting fuel into an hourglass-shaped chamber, where powerful magnets accelerate and compress plasmas to temperatures of 150 million degrees Celsius in less than a millisecond.
Unlike competitors who extract energy from fusion reactions as heat, Helion plans to generate electricity using the fusion reaction’s magnetic field. By directly harvesting electricity from fusion reactions, the company aims to improve efficiency compared to other fusion approaches.
In the future, Helion intends to transition from deuterium-tritium fuel to deuterium-helium-3. This fuel choice aligns with Helion’s strategy of maximizing electricity generation efficiency by leveraging the charged particles produced in deuterium-helium-3 fusion reactions.
Helion’s long-term goal is to achieve plasma temperatures of 200 million degrees Celsius, surpassing industry standards and optimizing power plant operation. While the company focuses on electricity generation, it also explores helium-3 production for fuel sustainability, a process facilitated by fusing deuterium nuclei and purifying helium-3 for reuse.
As Helion advances its fusion technology, it remains open to collaborations with other companies interested in adopting helium-3 fuel. Kirtley believes that the efficiency gains from direct electricity recovery will incentivize other fusion startups to explore helium-3 as a fuel source.
In addition to the Polaris prototype, Helion is constructing the Orion fusion reactor to fulfill its commitments, emphasizing that Polaris is a stepping stone towards the development of scaled power plants. This ambitious roadmap underscores Helion’s dedication to revolutionizing the energy industry through fusion power innovation.
