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Helion reframes Polaris's goal from 'net electricity' to demonstrating electricity from fusion, without a date
Helion now describes the goal of Polaris, its seventh fusion prototype, as demonstrating electricity from fusion rather than producing net electricity. Helion says the word 'net' did not fit its commercial goals; the new bar only requires showing that fusion energy was made and part of it was converted into electricity, which is much lower than producing more electricity than the machine consumes.
- In 2021 Helion said Polaris would demonstrate net electricity as soon as 2024; that has not been announced.
- Axios reports that Helion is now hedging on timing and gave no new date for the milestone.
- Helion's design recovers electricity directly: the fusing plasma expands against a magnetic field and pushes current back into capacitor banks, with no steam turbine.
- Polaris is also meant to show the machine can move between fuel mixes (deuterium-deuterium, deuterium-tritium, deuterium-helium-3).