Thea Energy’s Stellar Leap in Creating Sustainable Fusion Energy

The New Jersey-based company Thea Energy has unveiled its Helios fusion power plant project, based on a stellarator design that, according to the company, can be constructed using existing manufacturing capabilities. Helios represents, in Thea Energy’s view, a realistic approach to building a fusion power plant without waiting for major future scientific breakthroughs. Most fusion power plant projects use a tokamak – a toroidal structure with powerful magnets that confine high-temperature plasma. Helios employs an alternative approach – the stellarator, which is less energy-consuming for plasma confinement but has an asymmetric design.

Thea Energy uses the stellarator but with smaller, identical magnets at its core. Magnetic control is software-driven, allowing the complex stellarator shape to be virtually stabilized and plasma maintained. In a small pilot project with a 3×3 array, the company successfully compensated for inaccuracies in the manufacturing and installation of magnets.

Artificial intelligence is used to manage the reactor. The system successfully corrected defects such as incorrect magnet positioning or the use of defective materials without human intervention. Helios consists of 12 large magnets of four different shapes holding the plasma and 324 small magnets for fine plasma shape adjustment. It is expected that Helios will generate 1.1 gigawatts, with heat converted by a steam turbine into 390 megawatts of electricity. Reactors will require 84 days of maintenance every two years, ensuring a capacity utilization factor of 88%, comparable to nuclear power plants. The calculated lifespan of the first plasma-facing wall is 15 years, which also enhances the capacity utilization factor.

Thea Energy plans to reduce the cost of energy production from approximately $150 per megawatt-hour to $60 per megawatt-hour as new reactors are built. Currently, the company is working on creating the Eos demonstration unit, expected to launch by 2030.