World's First Ever Fusion Power Plant Planned in Malaga \ stacker news ~Construction_and

TL:DR

A fusion energy company wants to build the world's first-ever fusion power plant in Malaga.

Helion Energy, based in Everett, is a company focused on fusion energy research with future goals of producing low-cost fusion energy.

Director of Communications Jessie Barton says Helion will host a Community Event at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 11 at Mission View Elementary School.

"We're looking at developing a 50 megawatt fusion power plant on PUD-owned land near Rock Island Dam on the Chelan County side of the Columbia River,"

Barton said. "This isn't an official site selection at this point, but we are at the point we are ready to bring in more community members and have a larger conversation about this potential project."

If the permit process goes smoothly, Helion hopes to break ground on the plant this summer and start producing fusion energy by 2028.

Chelan PUD General Manager Kirk Hudson says, from the PUD's point of view, this is part of a larger picture approach to prepare for the future. Namely, its need to invest in clean energy and its ability to adapt.

Barton says the energy produced from the plant will go towards fulfilling a purchasing agreement it has with Microsoft at first, but Hudson is hopeful the PUD will be able to offer this energy customers in the future

Barton did not offer a timeline for when or if Helion energy could be available to Chelan County PUD customers.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story said the PUD hopes they can offer this energy at market rates. The wording has been changed to reflect better accuracy.

My Thoughts 💭

Microsoft is blazing a trail but having it in place by 2028 I don’t believe this is at all feasible plus they hope the power produced can be offered at market rates. Hopefully I am wrong would love to see fusion energy thrive in the 2030s

177 sats \ 0 replies \ @Cje95 7 Mar

My Committee had Helion and others testify before us last Congress. Helion to their credit has been able to keep each of their newest reactors under wraps compared to others. I agree though it’s much more likely Microsoft throws money at SMRs before they get fusion going.

111 sats \ 2 replies \ @kurszusz 7 Mar

It's excluded that in the first years (5-10 years) this energy to be offered to population at market rates, because of high costs of production (early years + new technology = high production costs).

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @BlokchainB OP 7 Mar

So like a subsidy until the the costs come down?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @kurszusz 7 Mar

Yeah, exactly. And we must take into consideration that (because technological development is much faster than in the past) those costs are rapidly decreasing, So we can see a "final product" (with optimal costs) much sooner than we expect now