US-based fusion energy company Helion has been granted a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) from Chelan County in Washington State to start the next phase of its planned commercial fusion power development. This clears the way for permitting and construction of the fusion generator building of the company’s Orion fusion power plant.
In July Helion began work on land in the Malaga area leased from the Chelan County Public Utilities District. This followed a Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance through Washington’s comprehensive environmental review process based on the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). Since 2023, Helion has been engaging with local and state stakeholders including government agencies, Tribal Nations, and the general public to prepare for a siting and permitting decision.
“As a company of builders with a single-minded focus on making electricity from fusion commercially practical, we couldn’t be more excited to move into this next phase of construction for the Orion power plant,” said David Kirtley, Helion’s co-founder and CEO.
“Early on in the permitting processes, Helion reached out to Chelan County, in an effort to get a better understanding of our processes and gather feedback. I applaud their willingness to engage the community, to understand and address the questions and concerns, and their commitment to doing their homework, which aided Helion in getting to this important point in the permitting process. This speaks to the character of not only the individuals working for Helion, but also the entity as a whole,” said Chelan County Commissioner Kevin Overbay, who represents the Malaga area.
He added: “Central Washington is known as the Buckle of the Power Belt for its foresight decades ago of bringing hydropower to the state. To be the home of fusion energy would enhance the legacy of our area as a continued leader in clean energy production.”
Helion’s approach of rapid iteration and testing has enabled the company to make some progress toward a commercial fusion machine. Its 7th-generation prototype, Polaris, is expected to demonstrate the first electricity produced from fusion. With its previous prototype, Trenta, Helion was the first private company to achieve a fuel temperature of 100m degrees Celsius, which is generally considered the required operating temperature for a commercial fusion power plant. Helion still needs design and construction approvals from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
Helion says its approach to fusion energy differs from other approaches. Helion is building a long narrow device called a Field Reversed Configuration. This pulsed, non-ignition fusion technology involves shooting plasma from both ends of the device at a velocity greater than one million miles per hour. The two streams smash into each other, creating a superhot dense plasma, where fusion can occur. While many fusion approaches use deuterium and tritium as fuel, Helion’s fusion system will uses deuterium and helium-3 – a rare type of the gas used in quantum computing. Helion’s Polaris prototype is also intended to commercially produce helium-3 “for the first time ever here on Earth”, according to Kirtley.
In 2023, Helion announced the world’s first fusion power purchase agreement (PPA) that will provide energy from the plant to Microsoft by 2028, with Constellation Energy serving as power marketer.
However, a long article in Earther, part of the Gizmodo Media Group, was more sceptical about the prospects for Helion meeting its targets Helion was founded in 2013 and was helped along by an infusion of cash from startup accelerator Y Combinator in 2014.
“That year, its CEO claimed that Helion could get a fusion reactor up and running in three years; two years ago, he said that the company would be able to generate fusion power and ‘go after commercially installed power generation’ by 2024,” Earther said. “It has now become the first fusion company to ink an actual power purchasing agreement for its services, and says that it will start supplying power to Microsoft in 2028 – more than 10 years after it initially said its reactor would be built.”
