The sun has an extraordinary way of producing energy. We’re working to replicate it here on earth to address the growing global energy demand while fighting climate change.
It’s called fusion.
Fusion is nature’s way of producing energy.
Fusion powers the sun and the stars, where the immense force of gravity compresses superheated hydrogen plasma, fusing it into helium and releasing enormous amounts of energy.
How is a technology innovator like General Fusion working to harness the sun’s energy?
To create fusion without the gravity of the sun, General Fusion is developing Magnetized Target Fusion technology. In this approach, we fill a tank with liquid metal, spinning the metal until a cavity is formed. We inject a hydrogen plasma into the cavity. The plasma is compressed and heated to more than 100 million degrees Celsius, and fusion occurs! Hydrogen atoms fuse and release energy in the form of heat. The compression process happens quickly – in milliseconds.
The fusion process heats up the liquid metal wall. In our commercial power plant, the heat will be extracted from the metal and used to make steam. The steam will drive a turbine – producing electricity. This approach is commonly used in power generation today: the result – clean energy.
Our mission is to find the fastest path to generating clean electricity from fusion energy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtA0W8BzwlI
After years of preparation, we are ready to design and build our Fusion Demonstration Plant. This prototype facility will confirm the performance of our approach to fusion energy in power-plant relevant conditions without putting electricity on the grid.
The Fusion Demonstration Plant results from over a decade of development; it assembles proven components into a scaled version of our commercial machine.
Check out our YouTube videos to learn more about how our technology works.
