Helion Is On Track To Unlock Fusion Energy By 2028
But can they really pull off this impossible feat?
You may not have heard of Helion, but it is one of the most promising players in the race to unlock fusion energy. Their technology takes a brilliantly novel approach to the problems that stump most reactors, which has helped them rapidly become an industry leader and attract massive investment from the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman and Microsoft. Recently, Helion announced that they are on track to build a fusion power plant by 2028. They also stated they had signed a deal with Microsoft to supply them with 50 megawatts of fusion power from this plant by 2028, and if they miss this target, they face financial penalties. But Helion has yet to yield more energy from fusion experiments than they put in! So, can they hit this monumental target?
Let’s start at the beginning. What is fusion? Why is it considered the ultimate clean energy? And why haven’t we unlocked it yet?
Nuclear fusion is the process that powers stars. The temperatures and pressures in their core are so high that hydrogen atoms have enough kinetic energy to overcome the repulsive force that keeps atoms separate. So, when two hydrogen atoms collide in this super-hot super-dense plasma, they fuse to form helium. But this helium is slightly lighter than…
