Impact Spotlight: Helion Energy and Capricorn Investment Group’s Technology Impact Fund

Fusion energy has long been considered the technological holy grail — to produce abundant, reliable, and carbon-free energy. Billions of dollars have been spent pursuing fusion technologies that, after decades, have failed to generate more energy out than in.

Everett, WA -based Helion Energy is taking a different approach to fusion. They are developing a new technology that focuses on practical, sustainable electricity production from fusion. Leveraging modern power electronics and gigahertz fiber optics, Helion takes a novel approach to fusion that is smaller, cheaper, and simpler than competing fusion technologies.

Helion uses high power electromagnets to compress a plasma of helium-3 (3He or he-3) and deuterium (2H or d) to fusion conditions. The energy released is recovered electromagnetically via the same electromagnets that originally compressed the plasma. This direct electricity recapture is substantially more efficient than thermal conversion that is common in today’s energy production facilities and other theoretical fusion approaches.

Another advantage to Helion’s approach is its choice of fuel. The d-he-3 fusion reaction produces less energetic neutrons than the alternative deuterium-tritium reaction, making the design of a practical fusion system simpler. Helium-3 is rare, previously either only found in space or produced via a nuclear fission reaction, however Helion has developed a proprietary technique to produce helium-3, solving a key piece of the puzzle.

Helion has recently shown very positive fusion results as they scale up targeting net electricity production, generating more electricity than what is put into their device. Helion’s sixth prototype, Trenta, recently exceeded their fusion target temperature equivalent to 100M degrees Celsius. They are now proceeding with increasing the magnet compression force and plasma flux to improve fusion energy yield.

Read more: www.HelionEnergy.com