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As a clean energy source of the future, nuclear fusion has attracted widespread attention. In 2022, compact fusion technology was selected as one of the "Top Ten Breakthrough Technologies in the World" by MIT Technology Review.

The question that many people are concerned about is when nuclear fusion can be commercialized?

Although it remains challenging to commercialize it in the short term, the world is actively promoting the commercial development of nuclear fusion.

According to the 2024 Global Fusion Industry Report released by the Fusion Industry Association, the nuclear fusion industry has attracted more than $7.1 billion in investment worldwide. Since 2023, more than $900 million in new funds have been injected to support the development of nuclear fusion-related technologies.

In the annual report released by the association in 2023, the number of nuclear fusion companies in the world was 43, and this year the number has increased to 45. In terms of government public funding support, it has increased by 57% to US$426 million compared with the past 12 months.

Among the financings of various companies in the past, three American fusion energy companies have attracted more attention, including: Xcimer Energy's $100 million, SHINE Technologies' $90 million, and Helion Energy's $65 million.

Figure丨"Global Fusion Industry Report 2024" released by the Fusion Industry Association (Source: Fusion Industry Association)

When it comes to nuclear fusion, the first thing that comes to our mind is the magnetic confinement fusion device Tokamak and laser inertial confinement nuclear fusion.

The tokamak is a doughnut-shaped device originally invented by scientists in the former Soviet Union in the 1950s. The device maintains the fusion fuel at a high enough temperature for a long time to form a plasma, and then uses a magnetic field to confine the plasma.

The magnetic field is invisible and can exist stably at temperatures of hundreds of millions of degrees. Once the ignition conditions are met, the tokamak can continue to maintain the reaction until the plasma becomes unstable.

Another common confinement method is laser inertial confinement, which is used by the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States.

The device irradiates a solid nuclear fuel particle with multiple high-power lasers at the same time in a very short period of time, raising its temperature, turning it into plasma, causing it to explode, and further detonating deuterium and tritium, producing a chain reaction, and ultimately inducing a nuclear fusion reaction.

In 2022, NIF achieved net energy gain from fusion ignition for the first time.

In contrast, Xcimer Energy claims to have achieved better results than NIF, for example, producing 10 times the laser energy, increasing efficiency 10 times, and reducing the cost per joule to one-thirtieth of that of NIF.

In the Chinese market, Hanhai Energy, a nuclear fusion startup founded in 2022, has launched its angel round of financing.

In addition, in April this year, it completed a financing of 50 million yuan. The investment institutions came from Huaying Capital, Qiji Chuangtan, Qingzhou Capital and Houshi Capital. This round of financing will be used for the physics and engineering design of linear devices.

According to the company's official website, its core team has relevant experience in domestic R&D colleges and scientific research institutes in the field of fusion. Its cooperative units include China National Nuclear Corporation's Southwest Institute of Nuclear Physics, the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Science and Technology of China, and Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

Xiang Jiang, CEO of Hanhai Energy, graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China with a bachelor's and doctoral degree, and his research direction is the tokamak device for magnetic confinement fusion.

After obtaining his doctorate, he worked in a scientific research institute for more than ten years and accumulated rich experience in the research of magnetic confinement fusion devices, Tokamaks, and laser inertial confinement nuclear fusion.

From the perspective of technical path, Hanhai Energy uses a field reversed configuration controlled nuclear fusion device (FRC, Field Reversed Configuration).

In an FRC, the plasma is confined in a doughnut-like ring structure and surrounded by magnetic fields. Unlike other fusion confinement concepts such as tokamaks or stellarators, in an FRC the entire plasma and its associated magnetic fields form a self-contained structure.

Hanhai Energy "hopes to become China's Helion Energy", and there is not much public information about its technology path. We may be able to get some reference from Helion Energy, an American nuclear fusion company with the same technology path abroad.

Helion Energy's fusion generators raise the temperature of fusion fuel to over 100 million degrees Celsius and directly extract electrical energy in a highly efficient pulsed manner. Deuterium and helium-3, the fuel for Helion Energy's nuclear fusion, are gradually heated to a plasma state, and magnets confine the plasma to the structure of the FRC.

Magnets will then accelerate the two FRCs from opposite ends of the device to 1 million mph, causing them to collide in the center. When the FRCs collide in the center of the system, they are compressed again by strong magnetic fields until fusion temperatures of more than 100 million degrees Celsius (9 keV) are achieved.

At this temperature, the deuterium and helium-3 ions move fast enough to overcome the repulsion between them and then fuse. Moreover, more energy is released than consumed in the fusion process. As the new fusion energy is generated, the plasma expands.

The speed of nuclear fusion development in the Chinese market cannot be ignored. In addition to Hanhai Energy, other commercial nuclear fusion companies have also made progress in financing recently.

For example, in March, Xinghuan Energy received hundreds of millions of yuan in Pre-A round of financing. In May, Fusion New Energy received A round of financing, but the amount of financing has not yet been made public. In May 2023, the company completed an angel round of financing of 1.5 billion yuan.

In the past two years, Energy Singularity has received angel round and Pre-A round financing of about RMB 400 million each. In addition, ENN Technology, a subsidiary of ENN Group, is also committed to promoting the development of nuclear fusion technology.

The progress and continued development of nuclear fusion technology can be seen from the dynamics of nuclear fusion companies in the global and Chinese markets. DeepTech will pay close attention to whether nuclear fusion can provide electricity to the power grid before 2040 and whether nuclear fusion companies can solve a series of challenges such as technology, power efficiency, and financial support.

References:

https://www.fusionindustryassociation.org/fia-launches-2024-global-fusion-industry-report/

https://xcimer.energy/xcimer-raises-100-million-to-put-inertial-fusion-energy-on-path-to-commercialization/

https://www.shinefusion.com/

https://www.helionenergy.com/

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Layout: Chu Jiashi

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