Microsoft bets that a fusion power plant from Helion Energy will be operating this decade
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Microsoft agreed to buy electricity from Helion Energy's forthcoming nuclear fusion power plant. It could be an important new source of clean energy.
Helion said the plant will be online by 2028, sooner than scientists thought fusion would be viable.
Fusion energy doesn't produce the greenhouse gas emissions that are fueling the climate crisis.
The timeline for pumping fusion energy into the power grid might be closer than many believed.
Fusion, a process that occurs naturally in the sun and stars, is considered the holy grail of energy production because it could be a nearly limitless source of power without creating greenhouse-gas emissions, which are fueling the climate crisis.
"Helion is focused on doing fusion in a way that gets us close to electricity, rather than just energy in a generic sense," he said.
"One analogy I use is regenerative braking in electric cars," he added. "When you hit the gas, it takes energy from the battery and puts it into the motor. When you hit the brakes, that energy returns to the battery. That's what we do for fusion. We have energy in storage, we put it into the fusion reaction, and then we extract that back out directly."
"That means we should be able to build fusion systems much quicker, operate them safely — and at a lower cost," Kirtley said.
Still, building a first-of-its-kind power plant in five years is a major challenge.
Kirtley said that's why the deal with Microsoft and the transmission operator Constellation was so important. Constellation is experienced at building power plants quickly, and Microsoft is one of the largest corporate purchasers of renewable energy. The tech giant aims for 100% of its electricity consumption by 2030 to be matched by zero-carbon purchases.
If Helion doesn't deliver Microsoft the 50 MW of electricity from its fusion power plant, there will be financial penalties, Kirtley said. He declined to disclose more specifics about the agreement.
Helion had previously projected that it would start building a commercial fusion power plant by 2022 — if it obtained sufficient funding. That target got pushed back because it took longer to get the funds, a spokesman told Insider.
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