Our guest speaker this past week was Jessie Barton, Communications Lead for Redmond-based Helion Fusion/Enabling. A truly timely discussion since the company just broke ground on a new facility in Everett on 75th Street which is classed as the holy grail of energy. Clean-zero carbon with no long-lived waste to deal with and is a reliable-24/7 power generation. The fuel comes from the deuterium found in water. Helion has been doing fusion since 2020.
The company was founded in 2013. Raised more than $75 million in funding. Privately funded by 58 employees. Now double in size employment wise. Helion Fusion/Enabling is expanding from their Redmond base to Everett in the foreseeable future.
Their technical accomplishments include building six fusion prototypes. They are doing fusion nearly every day. The facility in Everett has 30,000 sq. ft. of space with another 150,000 sq. ft. in planning stages. Helion is creating the world's first fusion power plant, enabling the future with unlimited clean electricity. Fusion occurs when two atoms combine to form a single atom, releasing energy. It is the process our sun and other stars use to make energy. Helion's plasma accelerator raises fusion fuel to 100 million degrees Celsius and directly extracts electricity with a high-efficiency pulsed approach.
The Helion Energy broke ground on a site of its next-generation fusion facility in Everett with Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin in attendance. The expansion of operations and creation of new clean energy jobs is a welcome accomplishment for our area.