Microsoft to buy electricity from Helion's fusion power plant

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Microsoft will buy electricity from Helion Energy's fusion power plant, according to a statement

The Maryland-based Constellation Energy Corporation, which provides electric power, natural gas and energy management services, will serve as the power marketer and will manage transmission for the project, according to Helion.

The plant is expected to be online by 2028 with a power generation of 50 megawatts or more after a one-year ramp-up period.

Helion said the development of a commercial fusion power facility is an important step in the transition to a sustainable energy future and will help the development of a new clean energy source for the world.

The Washington-based firm said the deal will also help Microsoft achieve its goal of being carbon negative by 2030.

Helion CEO David Kirtley said the deal is a significant milestone for the fusion industry and the company is confident in its ability to deliver the world’s first fusion power facility.

Fusion, which occurs when two nuclei combine to form a new nucleus, offers a potential long-term energy source that uses abundant fuel supplies and does not produce greenhouse gases or long-lived radioactive waste, according to the Energy Department.

Creating conditions for fusion on Earth involves generating and sustaining plasmas which are hot gases that electrons are freed from atomic nuclei, it added.

"We are optimistic that fusion energy can be an important technology to help the world transition to clean energy," said Brad Smith, vice chair and president at Microsoft.

US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in announced late December a "tremendous scientific breakthrough" in the decades-long effort to develop limitless clean fusion energy, adding the technology can be used to produce clean electricity for transportation fuels to power heavy industry and much more in a clean energy economy.