Helion Energy to demonstrate net electricity production by 2024

[Carl White]

Video just released:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpzYjJqZivI

"Helion hits new fusion milestone: D-T fusion and 150M°C plasma temperatures"

"We accomplished all of our goals on the FIRST day of testing"

"Scaling, that we observed in Trenta, that we observed in prior machines, continues to hold at these new settings"

He3 is the next big step.

[mvanwink5]

I’d say this latest performance announcement is confirmation that Helion Polaris upgrade from Trenta has proven their stepwise learning on machine design. Next stop is going from 150M C to 200M C for He3 - Deut. 2028 commercial is fast approaching. David Kirtley has a great team.

[Skipjack]

Anyone doubting that Helion is doing well in keeping their secrets. China is catching up and then it will be about the industrial base. This is why a lot of people in the US fusion industry are pushing so hard for building exactly that!
I actually think (as much as it will annoy me and all of us) that Helion should go back into stealth mode. Though, it might already be too late because the cat is already out of the bag and China knows where this is going. The US (forget about Europe, they are still sleeping and will sleep until it is too late) is moving too slowly. This is the next big thing and it is coming... fast!
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2026-02-09/W ... kKY/p.html

[mvanwink5]

SJ:

I actually think (as much as it will annoy me and all of us) that Helion should go back into stealth mode.

Electric power growth need is insane. Space solar, Commercial Fusion push are hard to digest. Solar is old tech but space launch cost about to plunge makes it a breakthrough, yet there is predictability to it. OTH, a tech breakthrough from a single fusion company such as Avalanche or Energy Zap could surprise shock the market due to rapid scalability. Further, Helion with its low cost plasma to electric conversion approach has a 2028 target for 1st Commercial; not too much time for stealth to matter.

The point is that dizzy heads are spinning with the pending electric power revolution & Tech is throwing the kitchen sink at power needs, (with EU a ’Snoozing Beauty’). It’s a crazy time.

[Skipjack]

This is going to be a major geopolitical disruption as well. And that is where I am worried. If China-- even as a fast follower-- managed to take the global market here, it would give them geopolitical leverage. That is something the US cannot afford to let happen.

[Maui]

I mean, even without fusion major geopolitical disruption is kinda the topic du jour, no? I don't buy into all the hype, but think AI is the quicker and bigger hit.... but maybe if you don't have fusion, it dampens the impact?

(major geopolitical disruption = weaponized version of this: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PE3Moz_KBYk. And also, if this is a deep fake, still a major geopolitical disruption)

[sdg]

Though, it might already be too late because the cat is already out of the bag and China knows where this is going. The US (forget about Europe, they are still sleeping and will sleep until it is too late) is moving too slowly. This is the next big thing and it is coming... fast!
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2026-02-09/W ... kKY/p.html

I so strongly agree with this assessment. Last month, I was like, "an world changing (Helion fusion) technical tsunami is likely to be obvious and happen in the next few years" Helion's video posted this past Friday changed all that (more on that in a following comment). Now it's like, anyone with a pair of binoculars can see the tsunami of Helion topology direct electric producing commercially viable fusion, in the not very distant future 2028/2029. per estimates.

It's coming and it's unstoppable. Meanwhile, Europe is clueless, and paralyzed, unable to react in any meaningful way. All humanity will benefit, but Europe will be led, not lead, in reaction to this wave. China, on the other hand, is not clueless, and they are the only country that is working to replicate, and able to catch up. Given their infrastructure, they are formidable, and bent on exploiting it to their advantage. At this point, it's not a question of if China will be producing direct to electric fusion using the "appropriated" Helion topology, it's simply a matter of when.

But wait, there's more: Another tsunami is also visible and approaching not as far away, no binoculars needed. It's the high performance next gen AI compute tsunami.

The primary bottleneck to that tsunami is semiconductor fabrication capacity and cheap DC electric power.

These two tsunamis will converge, in a reinforcing way, electricy for AI and AI for fusion electricity generation optimization, resulting in advances that are huge and fast, so large and fast that it's hard to imagine.

The weak link in the double tsunami, ironically, is Taiwanese fabrication. Building out US semiconductor capacity can't happen fast enough, and the importance of the defense of Taiwan by US in the near term, at least, can't be overstated, in my opinion.

[sdg]

[Last Friday's D-T success video posted by Helion] changed all that (more on that in a following comment).

The reason this is such HUGE news is that it confirms what Helion was stating they would do back in 2023, based on their scaling predictions and data from Trenta. They made a lot of this public, but we should all thank Skipjack for providing a bit more of an "insiders" verification that things have been proceeding according to plan. Thank you Skipjack!

I have been watching Kirtley's interviews over the past few months, and have been super excited by "the dog that didn't bark" confirmation that things are going well. Kirtley has had at his disposal for the past few years (more or less) one BILLION US dollars. Also, over the past year he has access to fusion modeling analysis capabilities unimaginable to what he had only a few years back.

And? He's calm as a clam in his interviews. In fact, he's just sanguine, talking with whoever is interested about Helion and what they will be accomplishing over the next few years (small net energy in Polaris soon, and commercial 50MW reactor in Orion by 2028/2029). Meanwhile, he casually mentions that Helion is aggressively working on gigafactory design.

If scaling WERE a problem, if Orion's delivery timeframe WERE a problem, there would be impossible to hide, visible signs of scrambling to recalibrate. Kirtley IS the dog that has not been barking.

But wait, it has been a long time now - all D-D, where's the D-T? I mean it's 2026 already. Why have we not heard anything? No barking dog, but no other news available.

Until this February Friday the Thirteenth. This Friday the 13th was Fusion Power Horror Story day ... for Tokomak/Spheromak/ITER and all other non-pulsed, non direct-to-electric fusion technology efforts. It also just marked the beginning of the end for wind. And even for Solar except for niche applications. (Kirtley won't admit that - outward comments from him are: there's room at the table for many renewable technologies). I'd say they're doomed, based on physics.

Other ironies: BIG WIN for Tesla, even though Musk doesn't seem to believe Helion can work. (He will). Potentially even big win for SpaceX, as the ability to deliver a Helion reactor to the Moon is within reach. But only in reach for Starship.

I'm thinking Musk will see the light, "later if not sooner". But he and those two companies will benefit, whether he "likes it or not".

Such interesting and exciting times!

[Skipjack]

Personally, I think that fusion will be much bigger than AI. If you think about the fundamental physics of everything humanity does, then energy is ultimate limiting factor. Even if we automated everything and all raw materials were free, the remaining cost of anything will be determined by the cost (and availability) of energy. Energy will also affect the cost of raw materials, of course. E.g. the cost of aluminum could be lowered by (by my estimate) up to 50% if energy was free. A lot of raw materials would be dropping in price because currently uneconomic recycling methods suddenly become viable. It just changes everything.

And (and keep in mind that I am originally European myself), I think that this is a race between the US and China with the UK at least trying to be a 3rd player. Not a single EU country has even started working on a regulatory framework for fusion!
The US has already lost their lead in fission (and renewables) to China. Europe also had a great high tech base in fission and just squandered it, slept on it, like they have been on literally everything.

As Helion in particular has been emphasizing over and over again to anyone who would listen, this is not about the race to break even, to net electricity or even a FOAK power plant. This is about being able to produce it cheaper and at a large enough scale to supply the entire world with it. Even if Helion captured the entire US market, it is geopolitically less relevant than the soft power and influence gained from bringing it to the rest of the world. The US must not leave that soft power to China! If we let that happen, we lose the world.

Edit: And let me add that while I am a huge fan of Helion, I am not advocating for throwing all of the eggs into one basket here. Helion still has some risks that could ultimately have them lose the lead to one of the other startups. And that is fine. One of the strengths of the US and its startup culture has always been the diversity of ideas. China is --interestingly enough-- catching up on that too. Meanwhile in Europe anything that is not toroidal or (to a lesser extent) laser based is considered too high risk to pursue. Even I dare not predict whether it will be Helion, or Zap, or Realta or LPPF or someone else who comes out on top. The government has to support, provide supply chains and help with funding where needed. I advocate for a shotgun approach here, rather than a sniper rifle. You fire enough bullets, something is going to hit
And then it is also about providing the framework (regulation and prioritizing supply chains) and building the industrial base. We need capacitors, power electronics, magnets, heck for Helion even the frigging quartz tubes were a challenge!

[Skipjack]

Good interview with Anthony Pancotti, one of the co- founders of Helion. Not much new in there for those of us who have been watching closely, but worth listening into!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-waSahWSNc&t=2s