2025 Volume 60 Issue 5 Pages 199-206
Helical Fusion Co., Ltd. (HF) is a Japanese fusion startup that aims to implement steady-state helical fusion reactors in society. By boldly incorporating new technologies such as high-temperature superconducting magnet coils and liquid metal blankets, HF bypasses issues that are difficult to solve; this will enable the early realization of an attractive fusion reactor and accelerate the social implementation of fusion energy. HF is currently in the individual demonstration phase and is working on developing each new technology. In the future, HF aims to realize the first fusion power generation plant, the fusion pilot plant (FPP). Before the FPP, HF will construct the final experimental device, a scaled-down version of the FPP, and then conduct an integrated demonstration in which all the new technologies work simultaneously. Once all new technologies have been established, construction of the FPP will begin immediately, with completion and start of operations targeted for the 2030s. The FPP will demonstrate the worldʼs first net power generation and long-term steady-state operation. If the FPP is successful, the world will begin to implement the First of a Kind commercial fusion reactor in the 2040s and beyond. This paper introduces the new technologies that HF is currently developing; it also shows the current state of research and development for the new technologies.