Inside OpenStar Technologies' fusion reactor near Wellington. Photo: OpenStar Technologies
A Wellington-based fusion energy company says funding is in place to build a new research facility with the potential to put Aotearoa at the forefront of clean energy development.
OpenStar Technologies has secured a $35 million commitment from the Regional Infrastructure Fund to further their research towards creating a clean fusion power source capable of being scaled up to commercial output.
The Fusion Energy process forces light atomic nuclei to merge - releasing large amounts of energy without the radioactive waste associated with nuclear energy.
OpenStar's current prototype device - named "Junior" - achieved the crucial milestone of First Plasma - where the device creates and confines the super hot ionized gas needed to trigger the fusion reaction - within two years of development.
The company said Junior - which used a unique approach called the levitated dipole - was the only one of its kind developed with the intention of upscaling to commercial levels of energy production.
Ratu Mataira says by delivering 'Junior' proved New Zealand be a global fusion player. Photo: OpenStar Technologies
The new facility would be used to house the company's next-generation device named "Tahi".
A step towards clean, virtually limitless energy
OpenStar CEO Ratu Mataira said the government was backing New Zealand researchers to forge a pathway towards developing the next step towards safe, clean and virtually limitless energy.
"We're not the only people working on [fusion energy] and it's not going to be solved by one company, and it's not going to be solved by one country. But by making sure that New Zealand plays a role in it - and the eco-system that springs up around it - that is playing a part of that global future and I think New Zealanders want that," Mataira said.
"It's a privilege to be able to be a part of it with OpenStar and the support we've just received from the government."
Mataira said the technology demonstrated in Junior had enabled the company to "push into" fusion research at an exciting moment in time.
"The way that most countries got to where they are in fusion is spending billions - if not tens of billions - of dollars over decades," Mataira said.
"The levitated dipole - the particular approach that we take - is a much faster and cheaper way of pushing into this space. We're the people that are going to catch up quick and play at that international level, which is really right on the cusp of a breakthrough where we will start producing more energy than we consume in these kinds of fusion reactors."
Photo: Supplied / OpenStar
Recreating the conditions that fuel the sun
Mataira said the levitated dipole was a way of recreating the similar conditions that would be found in the sun, where super high temperatures turned atoms into a plasma, which in turn allowed ions to overcome their otherwise natural electrical repulsion and fuse, releasing large amounts of energy.
"We have to build a powerful superconducting magnet and we have to levitate that magnet inside a very large vacuum chamber.
"It's the only way of using a powerful magnet to hold on to a superheated plasma - the sun is made out of plasma - where you can get things hot enough to actually fuse.
"How we've arranged things, it looks like the magnetosphere of a planet. So there is a plasma that looks exactly like the ones we make above our heads right now being held onto by the earth's magnetic field.
"We're just copying nature. When you're building machines it's really good to copy nature. It means that she's not going to fight you as you try to make progress," Mataira said.
He said the funding would enable a facility to be built that would support the company's current research but could also house other research when OpenStar's work was done.
"So it's actually an investment into the infrastructure and capability of us as a country and an important anchor in creating an eco-system in a new space. We think it's a great partnership between a complicated technology business and a government who wants to make sure that there's economic growth and opportunity in the long run," Mataira said.
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones said the technology could provide global benefits while the Government's support would help solidify the country's place in the rapidly developing fusion energy sector, creating highly skilled jobs for years to come.
"Over a century ago, New Zealand scientist Ernest Rutherford pioneered nuclear science. Today we are backing New Zealanders to lead the next big breakthrough in harnessing fusion energy, a technology that could deliver significant benefits for our country and the world," Jones said.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
