Fusion startup Helion hits blistering temps as it races toward 2028 deadline

Helion, a fusion energy startup based in Everett, Washington, has announced a significant advancement in its pursuit of fusion power. The company revealed that its Polaris prototype reactor has achieved an impressive temperature of 150 million degrees Celsius. This progress marks three-quarters of the temperature Helion believes is necessary for operating a commercial fusion power facility. David Kirtley, Helion's co-founder and CEO, expressed enthusiasm about reaching this milestone, stating, "We’re obviously really excited to be able to get to this place." Notably, Polaris is utilizing deuterium-tritium fuel—a combination of two hydrogen isotopes—making Helion the first fusion company to employ this type of fuel successfully. Kirtley mentioned that they observed a substantial increase in fusion power output, generating heat as anticipated. The race to commercialize fusion power is heating up, with multiple companies vying to harness this potentially limitless source of clean energy. Investors are keenly interested in the technology, as evidenced by Inertia Enterprises' recent announcement of a $450 million Series A funding round that included backing from notable firms such as Bessemer and GV. Other startups, like Type One Energy and Commonwealth Fusion Systems, are also attracting significant investments, with figures reaching $250 million and $863 million respectively. Helion secured $425 million in funding last year from a consortium that featured investors like Sam Altman and SoftBank. While most fusion startups are targeting the early 2030s to deliver electricity to the grid, Helion has a contract with Microsoft to provide electricity starting in 2028, although this power will originate from a larger reactor called Orion, which is currently under development. Different fusion startups have their unique milestones based on their reactor designs. For instance, Commonwealth Fusion Systems aims to heat its plasmas to over 100 million degrees Celsius in a tokamak setup, while Helion's design, known as a field-reversed configuration, requires plasmas to reach about 200 million degrees Celsius to function optimally. In this setup, fuel is injected into an hourglass-shaped chamber, where magnets accelerate the plasmas before compressing them to achieve the necessary temperatures in less than a millisecond. Helion has a distinct approach to electricity generation, utilizing the fusion reaction's magnetic field rather than extracting energy as heat. By harnessing the electrical current induced by the fusion reactions directly, the company aims to enhance efficiency compared to its competitors. Kirtley noted that over the past year, Helion has refined circuits within the reactor to improve electricity recovery rates. Currently using deuterium-tritium fuel, Helion plans to transition to deuterium-helium-3 in the future, which is expected to produce more charged particles and better suit their direct electricity generation strategy. Kirtley believes that achieving plasmas of 200 million degrees Celsius will lead to optimal operational conditions for a power plant. While Helion has not disclosed whether it has reached scientific breakeven—where a fusion reaction produces more energy than it consumes—Kirtley emphasized that their focus remains on electricity production rather than pure scientific benchmarks. Helium-3, a crucial component for Helion's fuel, is abundant on the Moon but scarce on Earth, necessitating the production of their own fuel. Initially, the company will fuse deuterium nuclei to create helium-3, with plans to purify and reuse it in future operations. Kirtley remarked on the ease of developing the necessary technology, stating that they have achieved high efficiencies in producing helium-3. Although Helion currently stands as the sole fusion startup utilizing helium-3, Kirtley foresees that others may follow suit as they explore direct electricity recovery methods. Moreover, Helion is not solely focused on Polaris; it is also constructing the Orion reactor, which is essential for fulfilling its contract with Microsoft. “Our ultimate goal is not to build and deliver Polaris,” Kirtley concluded. “That’s a step along the way towards scaled power plants.”