Mitsubishi Corp., others make US$73.6m bet on fusion power in Japan
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Te...thers-make-73.6m-bet-on-fusion-power-in-JapanTOKYO -- A consortium of public- and private-sector groups in Japan will invest in a startup working to commercialize fusion power, a next-generation energy source. Sixteen companies, including Mitsubishi Corp., Kansai Electric Power Co., and a government-affiliated fund will invest around 10 billion yen ($73.6 million) in the startup born at Kyoto University, Nikkei has learned.
The investment will go to Tokyo-based Kyoto Fusioneering. Founded in 2019 by researchers from Kyoto University, the company is the most successful startup in Japan working with fusion-related technology.
The aim is to accelerate the development of fusion power by improving the management of resources such as facilities and engineers. Fusion, which generates heat by combining hydrogen atoms to form helium, is the same process that powers the sun. The fuel that sustains a fusion reaction can be extracted from seawater and is practically inexhaustible. If fusion power proves commercially viable, it could contribute greatly to decarbonization as it offers the potential for virtually unlimited carbon-free energy.
Kyoto Fusioneering employs advanced plasma-heating equipment called gyrotrons. These are key components for creating nuclear fusion reactions and the company is a world leader in their development. Its technological sophistication has won the company an order from the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority.
