China launches fusion-focused company

It was also reported that CFEC signed a cooperation agreement for a fusion innovation consortium with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China Electrical Equipment Group, Shanghai Electric, and Shenergy Group. These firms are considered “local heavyweights in the traditional power generation sector” in Shanghai, and they are now “poised to secure market share in upstream and downstream fusion-related equipment.”

CNNC noted that there have been many promising developments in fusion research recently, but it added that controlled nuclear fusion is still only in the developmental stage.

Shanghai innovation: Shanghai has become a center of fusion research, development, and innovation. In March, researchers at Energy Singularity in Shanghai reported that Jingtian, their large-bore high-field magnet, generated an unprecedented 21.7 tesla magnetic field, setting a new record for large-bore, D-shaped, high-temperature superconducting magnets. The previous record of 20.1 tesla was set in 2021 by the SPARC TFMC magnet developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Commonwealth Fusion Systems. Energy Singularity plans to complete its tokamak device by 2027 with the goal of achieving a 10-fold energy gain.

Elsewhere in China: There have also been exciting fusion developments elsewhere in China. In Anhui Province, the Burning Plasma Experimental Superconducting Tokamak (BEST) is being constructed in the capital city of Hefei by Fusion Energy Tech. Researchers there hope to complete their tokamak by 2027 and demonstrate fusion electricity generation for the first time in history. Commercial operations are projected to begin between 2040 and 2050.

In Sichuan Province, various research teams are investigating tokamak fusion, linear field-reversed configuration (FRC), inertial confinement, and magnetically driven fusion. In mid-July, the start-up Hanhai Fusion Energy Technology achieved plasma ignition in its FRC device, HHMAX-901.