Start-up will put fusion reactor into operation in ten years

The Japanese start-up Helical Fusion plans to build a functioning fusion reactor by 2034. The pilot reactor is expected to deliver an output of up to 100 megawatts (MW) and serve as the basis for a commercial fusion power plant.

Tokyo (Japan). Science has been working hard for decades to generate clean energy through nuclear fusion. Although many milestones have now been achieved, including a magnetic field with a field strength of 17 Tesla, nuclear fusion has so far failed to produce net energy. The German start-up Proxima Fusion, founded by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Google-X, nevertheless announced in June 2023 that it would like to build the first fusion power plant in Germany in the 2030s.

The Japanese start-up Helical Fusion has now announced similar ambitious plans. CEO Takaya Taguchi told Reuters that his company will put the first nuclear fusion reactor into operation as early as 2034. In the 2040s, Helical Fusion wants to operate a commercial nuclear fusion power plant that produces electricity on an industrial scale.

“If this succeeds, electricity importer Japan could produce and even export its own energy, significantly improving Japan’s energy security.”

Plasma in a twisted donut

Helical Fusion’s fusion reactor is a stellarator, which the company calls a heliotron. In it, the plasma is held in the shape of a twisted doughnut by a strong magnetic field and reaches temperatures of several million degrees Celsius. According to Helical Fusion, one gram of the hydrogen isotopes used as fuel should provide as much energy as eight tons of oil.

According to Helical Fusion, the pilot reactor’s output will be between 50 and 100 megawatts (MW). Thanks to its compact design, it should be suitable for use on ships and smaller islands. The company has not yet announced how high the generation capacity of the commercial fusion reactor that will follow later will be.

Investments amounting to 6.18 billion euros

Helical Fusion plans to spend around €6.18 billion on developing and building the pilot reactor. It is therefore likely that Helical Fusion will not receive the necessary funding to implement the project. In Japan, only €2.4 billion has been invested in research into fusion energy at the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS).