Articles tagged with "stellarator"
World’s largest stellarator fusion power design gets funding boost
Type One Energy, a fusion startup backed by Bill Gates, has secured $87 million in new funding to advance its stellarator fusion power design, bringing its total venture investment to over $160 million. The company is developing Infinity One, the world’s largest and most advanced stellarator testbed, located at a former fossil plant site in Clinton, Tennessee. This project aims to demonstrate improved manufacturing, construction, and commissioning processes using advanced methods, while verifying key fusion technologies such as modular high-temperature superconducting magnets, plasma performance with a metallic first wall, reduced plasma heat loss, and enhanced exhaust efficiency. Stellarators are highlighted as one of the most promising fusion concepts due to their stable, steady-state operation and predictable plasma performance, which reduces risks associated with commercial fusion power. Type One Energy leverages modern computational physics and high-performance computing to optimize the complex three-dimensional magnetic fields required for stellarator operation. The company is currently raising a $250 million Series B round at a $900 million valuation,
energyfusion-powerstellaratorsuperconducting-magnetsadvanced-manufacturingsustainable-energypower-generationBill Gates-backed Type One Energy raises $87M ahead of $250M Series B
Type One Energy, a fusion power startup backed by Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, has raised $87 million through a convertible note, bringing its total venture funding to over $160 million. The company is currently pursuing a $250 million Series B funding round at a $900 million pre-money valuation. Fusion power, which offers the potential for nearly limitless clean energy by fusing atoms to release heat without the pollution or radioactive waste associated with fission, is gaining attention amid rising electricity demand driven by data centers and broader electrification trends. Type One Energy is developing a magnetic confinement fusion reactor based on the stellarator design, which uses twisted, doughnut-shaped magnets to control plasma for sustained fusion reactions. Unlike previous stellarators focused on plasma control, Type One aims to produce commercial power. The company has partnered with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to deploy its first commercial power plant, Infinity Two, at the site of the retired Bull Run Fossil Plant, targeting 350 megawatts
energyfusion-powerclean-energymagnetic-confinementstellaratorpower-plantselectrificationThea Energy previews Helios, its pixel-inspired fusion power plant
Thea Energy is developing a novel fusion power plant design called Helios, which aims to overcome key challenges in fusion energy production by using a unique approach to magnetic confinement. Unlike traditional stellarators that rely on complex, irregularly shaped magnets difficult to mass-produce, Thea’s design employs arrays of small, identical superconducting magnets controlled individually by specialized software. This "virtual" stellarator concept allows the company to rapidly iterate on magnet designs and use software to compensate for manufacturing and installation imperfections, potentially reducing the high costs and precision demands that have hindered fusion power development. Thea’s control system, based on electromagnetic physics and enhanced with AI through reinforcement learning, has demonstrated resilience even when magnets were deliberately misaligned or made from defective materials. This flexibility could enable the construction of fusion reactors without the extreme precision typically required, lowering barriers to commercialization. The company has shared detailed physics and design information publicly and is working toward building a working prototype. If successful, Thea’s approach could significantly reduce the
energyfusion-powerstellaratorsuperconducting-magnetsclean-energypower-plantplasma-confinementWorld's largest stellarator turns ten: How W7-X achieves steady plasma
The Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), the world’s largest and most advanced stellarator, recently marked its tenth anniversary, demonstrating significant progress from an engineering prototype to a functional laboratory for fusion research. Unlike tokamaks, stellarators use complex, externally wound coils to create a three-dimensional magnetic field that confines plasma without relying on large internal plasma currents, potentially avoiding instabilities that limit continuous operation. Since its first plasma in 2015, W7-X has undergone extensive international collaboration and precision engineering, proving the feasibility of its coil and control systems. However, the critical question remained whether it could sustain high-performance plasmas for durations relevant to power plant operation. In 2025, W7-X achieved a breakthrough during the OP2.3 campaign by sustaining high-performance plasmas for 43 seconds and setting a world record for the triple product (density × temperature × confinement time) in long plasma discharges. This performance matched the best tokamak results for similar pulse lengths,
energyfusion-energystellaratorplasma-physicssuperconducting-coilsmagnetic-confinementWendelstein-7-XUS supercomputer refines most promising nuclear fusion reactor design
Type One Energy Group, based in Knoxville, has refined the design of a commercial-scale nuclear fusion power plant using extensive simulations on the Department of Energy’s Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Their advanced stellarator concept leverages high-performance computing to model plasma behavior and optimize the reactor’s physical shape, aiming to minimize turbulence and energy loss—a key challenge in sustaining fusion reactions. The team was granted 250,000 node hours on Summit, enabling thousands of complex evaluations that accelerated the design process by at least a year. This approach marks a novel use of high-fidelity performance projections in fusion power plant design. The stellarator design confines plasma made of hydrogen isotopes at temperatures around 270 million degrees Fahrenheit, about ten times hotter than the sun’s core, using intricate superconducting electromagnetic coils. While the fundamental principles have been demonstrated in research devices like Germany’s Wendelstein 7-X, Type One Energy’s simulations focused on passive turbulence control through shape optimization rather than simply scaling
energynuclear-fusionsupercomputer-simulationsstellaratorplasma-confinementfusion-reactor-designrenewable-energy-technology350-MWe nuclear reactor to turn dead US coal mine into power plant
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has issued a Letter of Intent to Type One Energy to develop a 350-megawatt-electric (MWe) nuclear fusion power plant, named Infinity Two, at the site of the decommissioned Bull Run Fossil Plant near Knoxville, Tennessee. This project aims to repurpose the retired coal plant’s existing infrastructure, such as grid connections and access to cooling water, to support a commercial fusion facility expected to be operational by the mid-2030s. The Infinity Two plant will utilize stellarator fusion technology, which employs a complex, twisted magnetic field configuration to contain plasma, offering stable, steady-state, and high-efficiency operation—advantages over the more common tokamak design. The collaboration between TVA and Type One Energy builds on earlier agreements and commercial contracts under “Project Infinity,” including the development of a smaller stellarator testbed called Infinity One. TVA’s Power Service Shops are assisting in creating specialized welding and fabrication techniques for this prototype, which will
energynuclear-fusionpower-plantstellaratorrenewable-energygrid-integrationfusion-technologyNew pellet injector from US lab powers fusion record breakthrough
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed a novel high-speed pellet injector that significantly advanced fusion energy research by enabling a record-breaking plasma performance at the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) stellarator in Germany. This Continuous Pellet Fueling System injects a steady stream of solid hydrogen pellets, cooled near absolute zero and accelerated by helium gas, directly into the plasma core. This deep fueling method effectively raises the plasma’s core density more efficiently than traditional gas injection from the vessel’s edge, which is crucial for sustaining the plasma’s energy confinement and achieving the fusion “triple product” — the simultaneous attainment of high ion temperature, density, and energy confinement time. The W7-X stellarator, known for its complex three-dimensional magnetic confinement, had previously struggled to maintain high plasma density for extended periods, limiting sustained high-performance operation. The ORNL pellet injector overcame this limitation by maintaining a higher plasma density, which uniquely enhances energy confinement in stellarators. This breakthrough allowed
fusion-energypellet-injectorplasma-confinementstellaratorOak-Ridge-National-Laboratoryfusion-researchenergy-breakthroughJapan: Helical bets on stellarators for nuclear power with new funds
Japan-based Helical Fusion Company has secured $15 million in Series A funding, bringing its total capital to $35 million, to advance its “Helix Program” aimed at developing the world’s first steady-state net power nuclear fusion plant by the 2030s. The company is pioneering a commercial fusion reactor based on a stellarator design, a magnetic confinement technique with a proven track record of stable, continuous plasma operation. This approach builds on decades of research at Japan’s National Institute for Fusion Science, home to the Large Helical Device (LHD), and aims to provide carbon-neutral, round-the-clock energy for global needs as well as space missions. The Helix Program includes two main projects: Helix Haruka, an intermediate device for validating components and systems, and Helix Kanata, a full-scale pilot plant designed to deliver steady-state net-electric fusion power. Helical Fusion emphasizes the stellarator’s advantages in maintainability, uptime, and energy-positive performance, noting that it has
energynuclear-fusionstellaratorHelical-Fusionrenewable-energyfusion-power-plantcarbon-neutral-energyGerman firm advances plan to build world's first nuclear fusion plant
Proxima Fusion, a Munich-based start-up spun out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in 2023, has secured €130 million ($150 million) in its Series A funding round, bringing total funding to over €185 million ($213 million). The company aims to build the world’s first commercial nuclear fusion power plant using a stellarator design, leveraging a simulation-driven engineering approach and high-temperature superconducting (HTS) technology. Key near-term milestones include completing the Stellarator Model Coil (SMC) by 2027 to demonstrate HTS application and selecting a site for its demonstration stellarator, “Alpha,” which is planned to begin operations by 2031. Alpha is intended to achieve net energy gain (Q>1), a critical step toward a functional fusion power plant. Proxima Fusion’s technical strategy centers on the “Stellaris” concept, the first peer-reviewed stellarator design integrating physics, engineering, and maintenance from inception. This quasi-isodynamic stellarator
energynuclear-fusionfusion-power-plantstellaratorhigh-temperature-superconductorsclean-energyenergy-innovationWorld’s strongest stellarator hits 43-second fusion plasma milestone
energyfusionplasmaWendelstein-7-Xclean-energyhydrogenstellarator