Microsoft Azure: Microsoft signs PPA with Helion Energy for fusion power by 2028 in world first

Microsoft has made a world first by inking a PPA deal with Helion for electricity from the company's first commercial fusion power plant. Scheduled to come online in 2028, the giant has been promised to receive 50MW or greater from the plant after a one-year ramp-up. 

This technology has been long sought after, and by providing potentially limitless energy, it's perceived to be the holy grail of energy. For many years, it was the stuff of science fiction, however, Helion, if successful, would be the first company to ever achieve it and it could potentially change the landscape of energy and the world forever. 

Fusion works by heating two light atoms to extreme temperatures to fuse them together and create a heavier atom, it's the process that occurs in stars, and generates large amounts of energy. To deliver the energy, Helion plans to use a fuel made of deuterium and Helium 3, which is a rare isotope of helium used in quantum computing, and heat it to over 100 million degrees with its plasma accelerator. 

Helion has reportedly been working on its fusion tech for over ten years, and six prototypes down, it believes the seventh will be the version to bear fruit. 

Considering the magnitude of what the company is promising to deliver, there are many skeptics who are questioning the feasibility of the project. University of Chicago theoretical physicist Robert Rosner, for example, said it's the most "audacious thing" he's ever heard. But, while Microsoft has taken a big bet on fusion, according to the founder and CEO of the company, David Kirtley, there are financial penalties attached to the PPA if Helion can't deliver. 

"We are extremely proud to have Microsoft as our first customer," David Kirtley, CEO at Helion, said. "With this partnership, not only are we advancing the timeline to have commercial fusion energy on the grid, but we are also supporting Microsoft's goal to be carbon negative by 2030."

Brad Smith, vice chair and president at Microsoft, said that Helion's work "supports our own long-term clean energy goals and will advance the market to establish a new, efficient method for bringing more clean energy to the grid faster."