Helion Energy Company promises to build a clean fusion power plant capable of generating enough electricity for Microsoft in five years.
Microsoft agreed in May to buy 50 megawatts of electricity from Helion by 2028, enough energy to power around 40.000 homes.
But despite the excitement and promises of fusion energy, it is incredibly difficult to produce. In particular, it is difficult to reach the temperature required to produce electricity from fusion. But Helion claims to be the first private fusion company to have built technology capable of reaching that temperature.
But what is fusion?
"Fusion is something we use every day; all of our energy boils down to fusion in some way," Reported Scott Krisiloff, Chief Operating Officer of Helion Energy; "But we've never been able to harness it on Earth in a way that we can generate electricity from it."
Fusion occurs when two atoms join, forming a single atom. This is how the sun and stars generate energy.
To do this Helion takes two materials, deuterium, a form of hydrogen found in water, and helium-3 and puts them into a 40-foot-long tube. Inside the materials are compressed until they reach 100 million degrees Celsius.
That's when conditions are right for generating electricity, Krisiloff said. A Helion prototype called Trenta managed to exceed 100 million degrees Celsius, according to Krisiloff.
He also says that what makes fusion energy so promising is that there are abundant sources of fuel.
"The fuel comes from water in the form of deuterium, which is abundant on Earth."
Another advantage of fusion is that it is safer, compared to other forms of energy such as nuclear energy or fission. If something happens to the engine that produces the fusion energy, it will shut down immediately.
Krisiloff said fusion produces limited amounts of waste during the process compared to traditional fission, when atoms split, creating unstable nuclei, some of which can be radioactive for millions of years, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency .
Fusion can produce energy without emitting carbon.
To mention, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman invested $375 million in the company in November 2021.
