Helion Energy to demonstrate net electricity production by 2024

[mvanwink5]

Yes. Working on improving O&M costs, extending operating rate, a bit bigger machine as opposed to proving science is the stage Helion is at. As pointed out, the needed improvements are not venturing into developing new tech (which is why the time line to the next machine is short). But don't forget a big economic advantage over many machines is no superconductor magnets are used with their high initial cost, lead time, cost to operate and replace.

Grid power will be the second shockwave, the first shockwave being net electric power in 2024 (which does not require breakthrough design changes and Helion already has proven direct plasma energy to electric conversion at 95% efficiency - which was what really jolted my brain).

[Skipjack]

Polaris walls are up:

PolarisWallsUp.JPG (52.91 KiB) Viewed 3758 times

[mvanwink5]

We are now at the stage where progress is in terms of concrete and steel, and obstacles are weather and snow!

[Skipjack]

From the Helion Energy mailing list (from David Kirtley):

The bit about the new divertors improving magnetic flux lifetimes is definitely new information.

Celebrating Helion's progress in 2021

As we wrap up 2021, I’ve been reflecting on the year we’ve had at Helion. I want to thank you for following our progress; our team appreciates your support in our bigger mission to enable a future with unlimited clean energy. I’d like to share what we’ve been up to this year and what it could mean for the future.


Including 2020 operations, Trenta has done nearly 10,000 fusion pulses in total. We’re still operating Trenta today.

In June, we announced that Trenta reached 9 keV (104 M°C) plasma temperatures in 2020, the temperature required for a commercial fusion system. I presented these results at the IEEE Symposium on Fusion Engineering just a few weeks ago.

In July, we broke ground on Polaris, our 7th fusion prototype. Construction of the building that will house Polaris is almost complete.

In September, we underwent a major divertor upgrade. New divertors were installed on each end of Trenta, with early results showing improved magnetic flux lifetimes in our FRC plasmas. This is a really exciting advancement.

In November, we closed a $500 million fundraise. This new funding will accelerate our ability to demonstrate net electricity in Polaris by 2024.

Over the year, our team doubled in size and we’re continuing to grow (check out our open positions)!

All these milestones build up to a future where fusion plays a major role in our energy grid. Our goal is to produce fusion electricity at $0.01/kWh so we can provide zero-carbon, affordable electricity in the places that need it most. We believe accomplishing these goals can truly help tackle climate change in a meaningful way while making clean water, the internet, and air conditioning available to everyone.

We’re ready to keep building in 2022 and I’m excited to share our continued progress with you along the way.

Happy New Year,

David
Co-Founder & CEO, Helion

https://mailchi.mp/ef1f19e22264/celebra ... c36a3de162

[mvanwink5]

We’re still operating Trenta today.

And that is with the new divertors, gaining needed O&M data on one of the chief expendable parts. No development time is being lost between Trenta and Polaris.

[Skipjack]

We’re still operating Trenta today.

And that is with the new divertors, gaining needed O&M data on one of the chief expendable parts. No development time is being lost between Trenta and Polaris.

Yep! They will keep pushing Trenta, while they are already starting Polaris construction. Will be interesting to see how far they can push it. Remember, so far we have only seen the numbers from 2020, not even 2021 yet...

[mvanwink5]

so far we have only seen the numbers from 2020, not even 2021 yet...

Yes, but we have seen the divertor that the prior tests ran with before it was upgraded and it did well, I am sure you remember that, so this one should do much better. Still, with the 10 Hz planned operation for a commercial version the life for the divertor will be heavily challenged. Maybe Trenta will have enough cycles with the new divertor to draw an inference. Anything to accelerate the design and drop O&M costs...

[Skipjack]

so far we have only seen the numbers from 2020, not even 2021 yet...

Yes, but we have seen the divertor that the prior tests ran with before it was upgraded and it did well, I am sure you remember that, so this one should do much better. Still, with the 10 Hz planned operation for a commercial version the life for the divertor will be heavily challenged. Maybe Trenta will have enough cycles with the new divertor to draw an inference. Anything to accelerate the design and drop O&M costs...

AFAIK, Polaris will do 1Hz. 10 Hz will probably be the one after that. Polaris will further expand the envelope for sure.
The new divertors are now also magnetically shielded and they are investing quite heavily in materials right now and not just for the divertors. That said, if those are their main concerns now, they are in a pretty good place.

[mvanwink5]

AFAIK, Polaris will do 1Hz. 10 Hz will probably be the one after that.

Yes, I misspoke, was really thinking of their next step after Polaris, but who knows what they might squeeze in?

The new divertors are now also magnetically shielded and they are investing quite heavily in materials right now and not just for the divertors. That said, if those are their main concerns now, they are in a pretty good place.

That is a huge point, adding the magnetic shielding, and O&M focus shift really does speak to the nearness of fusion to commercial operation. Helion is truly on the cusp of proving not just engineering Q, but also commercial operation. The $500 million jump in funding also underscores how close Helion is to proving commercial breakthrough.

And Helion is further committing to illuminating their progress for us (you have been a huge boon in the past and it looks like progress pace is picking up).

[ltgbrown]

(you have been a huge boon in the past and it looks like progress pace is picking up).

I just want to highlight this point and say thank you specifically to Skipjack for keeping us informed on Helion (and others!) progress.

[mvanwink5]

Shipping Container Sized Commercial Nuclear Fusion is Fully Funded and May Arrive 2027
Nuclear Fusion startup, Helion Energy, received $500 million in funding and has $1.7 billion in commitments.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI and former president of Y Combinator, led the round. Co-founder of Facebook Dustin Moskovitz and Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital, Capricorn Investment Group also invested.

David Kirtley, Helion’s co-founder and CEO plans to build systems that are about the size of a shipping container and that can deliver industrial-scale power — say on the order of 50 megawatts of electricity.

They want to have a net power generating system by 2024 and a full commercial system possibly by 2027.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2022/01/174306.html

[Skipjack]

I am not sure where Brian got the 2027 number from. It would coincide with my own earliest estimate based on the fact that they have a ~3 year tact rate for new builds. So assuming that they start in 2024, right after their net electricity milestone, they could make it. Having an additional 1.7 billion of funding for that would certainly help too.
I am very optimistic regarding Helion but even I have to admit that this estimate is a bit optimistic... but possible.

[mvanwink5]

Long lead items, electronics (which by scaling can be calculated) can be moved on early as well as the facility construction, so project time could be significantly compressed (assuming money, which at this stage is likely to be released - at least in part - early).

[Skipjack]

Here is another good article talking about Helion, Tokamak Energy and CFS:
https://www.theengineer.co.uk/fusion-fi ... oly-grail/

[ltgbrown]

Shipping Container Sized Commercial Nuclear Fusion is Fully Funded and May Arrive 2027
Nuclear Fusion startup, Helion Energy, received $500 million in funding and has $1.7 billion in commitments.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI and former president of Y Combinator, led the round. Co-founder of Facebook Dustin Moskovitz and Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital, Capricorn Investment Group also invested.

David Kirtley, Helion’s co-founder and CEO plans to build systems that are about the size of a shipping container and that can deliver industrial-scale power — say on the order of 50 megawatts of electricity.

They want to have a net power generating system by 2024 and a full commercial system possibly by 2027.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2022/01/174306.html

From the article, I found this interesting tidbit:
"Helion produces helium-3 by fusing deuterium in its plasma accelerator utilizing a patented high-efficiency closed-fuel cycle.

Helium-3 has, historically, been very difficult to produce. Scientists have even discussed going to the Moon to mine helium-3 where it can be found in much higher abundance. Helion’s new process means we can produce helium-3 (no space travel required!)"

Is the energy cost of producing the helium-3 included in the energy input to Polaris when they say it will produce on the order of net 50 MW? And just how revolutionary is this method of producing helium-3? Could Helion be profitable just with that?