Tokamak Energy signs commercial agreements in the race towards fusion energy
Fusion power research company Tokamak Energy has signed an agreement with leading Japanese and United States companies to supply specialist high temperature superconducting tape for its new advanced prototype fusion device, ST80-HTS.
Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan and SuperPower Inc, New York, USA of Furukawa Electric Group, are expected to deliver more than several hundred kilometres of tape to the Oxford-based company for the next phase of construction.
ST80-HTS will be the world’s first high field spherical tokamak using high temperature superconducting tape (HTS) magnets at scale, and will utilise HTS tape developed and supplied by Furukawa Electric Group – a key stage in the path to Tokamak Energy’s fusion pilot plant which will demonstrate the capability to deliver clean electricity into the grid in the early 2030s, producing up to 200 MW of net electrical power.
Late last year the Milton Park, Oxfordshire-based company demonstrated a world-first by reaching a plasma temperature of 100 million degrees Celsius in the ST40 tokamak – the threshold required for commercial fusion energy and the highest temperature ever achieved in a privately funded spherical tokamak.
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Chris Kelsall, CEO of Tokamak Energy, said: “Building our next advanced protype, ST80-HTS, is a key milestone in our mission to deliver commercial fusion as a clean, sustainable, low cost and globally available energy source.
“Securing partnerships with leading global suppliers such as Furukawa Electric Group strengthens our capability to address the twin challenges of climate change and energy security.”
Keiichi Kobayashi, president & CEO of Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. said: “Furukawa Electric Group has set out the vision toward 2030 as pursuing business to solve social agendas and to contribute to the development of sustainable energy solutions.
“Also, we have laid out the environment-vision 2050, as our committed contribution for the future of the Earth.
“The new form of fusion energy is core to such goals, and we expect that our superconductors will play key roles in our collaboration between Tokamak Energy and Furukawa Electric.”
Tokamak Energy was founded in 2009 as a spin-off from the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, and currently employs a growing team of over 220 people with talent from the UK and experts from around the world. It combines world-leading scientific, engineering, industrial and commercial capabilities.
The company has 70 families of patent applications and has raised $250 million, comprising $200m from private investors and $50m from the UK and US governments.
Once realised, fusion energy will be clean, low cost and globally deployable – a key enabler for meeting world energy requirements and climate policy goals.
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Featured image: Tokamak Energy
