Renaissance Fusion aims to build a stellarator fusion reactor – which is different to more commonly used tokamak designs – by developing two innovative technologies. The 1st technology concerns the use of liquid metal, which sticks to the inner walls of the reaction chamber & insulates them from extreme heat & radioactivity (with lower maintenance costs). Currently, the startup can create liquid lithium-based walls 1cm thick, but significant development remains before they can be used in nuclear fusion, which requires a thickness of 30-40cm. The 2nd technology relates to high-temperature superconducting coils, which generate strong(er) magnetic fields (& potentially allow a smaller reactor to achieve the same performance as a larger one). To do so, the firm has developed a new manufacturing process using high-temperature superconductive magnets (HTS), which allows the reactor to be split into separate modules. Instead of designing complicated three-dimensional coils to generate a magnetic field, the startup simplifies this process by drawing tracks on a cylinder with a laser. The cylinder blocks are then combined to form a reactor (this modularity should also help with logistics). By 2024, Renaissance Fusion intends to finalize the engineering of its two technologies, which it then plans to start selling, though interestingly, not to fusion market (at first). Turns out, with minor modifications, both technologies can potentially be applied to other industries that require strong magnetic fields such as medical imaging & energy storage. Thereafter, the company will work on the construction of a first experimental reactor in order to demonstrate, in particular, that it is capable of producing a net energy gain. Finally, “at the beginning of the 2030s”, Renaissance Fusion plans to inaugurate its first commercial reactor with a power of 1GW (of course, the company may simply decide to sell its reactor design to plant construction companies & operators). For now, the new funding will be used to 3x the workforce to 60 employees, buy the equipment needed to facilitate R&D as well as conduct “first experiments”. Renaissance Technologies, which is based in France & the US, was founded in 2019 by Francesco Volpe (CEO & CTO) and Martin Kupp (Advisor). It joins the ranks of the most-moneyed European nuclear fusion startups, which include Tokamak Energy (UK, <€140m), First Light Fusion (UK, <€100m) as well as Marvel Fusion (DE, <€35m). <Source: techcrunch.com, sifted.eu, neinmagazine.com, lejournaldesentreprises.com, environnement-magazine.fr>
