Thea Energy

Looking forward to participating again in Newlab’s New Climate Futures during #ClimateWeekNYC on September 26. Come meet with our team to learn more about the potential of #FusionEnergy and see: 🧲 Our core technology, planar coil high-temperature superconducting magnets 🧲 A demonstration of #superconductivity with floating magnets and liquid nitrogen

🌱 Next up, let’s dive into the world of fusion energy with Brian Berzin, Co-founder and CEO of Thea Energy! Founded in 2022, Thea Energy is on a mission to revolutionize fusion energy by harnessing the latest breakthroughs in stellarator physics and engineering. They’re taking a faster, simpler approach to commercializing fusion energy, ditching the complex, modular magnets in favor of sleek, computer-controlled arrays of planar coils. Talk about a game-changer! Brian first set his sights on the fusion space in 2016, when there were only two VC-funded fusion startups in the U.S. Fast forward to today, and that number has skyrocketed to over 40! We’ll uncover what sparked Brian’s interest back then and how he’s continued to master this rapidly evolving field. 💡 Fun fact: Fusion energy boils down to largely two buckets- Magnetic confinement: Using powerful magnets to keep plasma in check. Inertial confinement: Using lasers or other techniques to quickly heat or compress plasma, creating the perfect fusion conditions. 💼 Quick Glance at Brian’s Journey: 👉 BS in Finance and Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University 👉 Founder of LUMENESSENCE 👉 Investment Banking Analyst at Houlihan Lokey 👉 VP Strategy at General Fusion 👉 Investor at Aeterna Capital Partners Brian shares some wisdom on building a successful company: “There’s always something to learn, and often, you can learn it from those who’ve been there before.” We love his growth mindset! And let’s not forget the powerful reminder: no matter how tough the problem you’re tackling, if you’re resourceful, you don’t have to go it alone. The magic of learning from others is real! Why do we think this so cool? Brian’s work is set to reshape the future—manufacturing energy without depending on natural resources. Talk about changing the way humanity functions! Tune in next week as we explore some of the most impactful tech set to shape the world for centuries, tackling climate change and the geopolitics of energy. Oh, and did we mention there’s a massive opportunity for #AI and #ML in this space too? 😉 Subscribe: https://lnkd.in/g2A9uNFY #climatetech #startups #earthfirst #innovation #technology #sustainability #leadership #climatechange #fusion #FusionEnergy

Thea Energy co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Dr. David Gates, and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) received an Edison Patent Award from the Research & Development Council of New Jersey for the invention of the planar coil #stellarator! Read more about the recognition and how the planar coil stellarator is a simpler, more practical approach to commercial #fusion in this article from Jeanne Jackson DeVoe.

🥶 🧲 🌌 In the lab this week, our team cooled down one of our high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets. These magnets are the building blocks of our core planar coil #stellarator tech.   With our superconducting magnets, we can conduct electricity and create magnetic fields without energy loss. For these superconductors to work, they must be cooled below a critical temperature.   Modern magnetic confinement #fusion technologies, such as our stellarator, use HTS magnets to confine a plasma (the fuel of fusion) and create the necessary conditions for fusion to take place, creating #CleanEnergy. 🌍 Our HTS planar coil magnet is now cooled below 15K where we can run it at high magnetic field via its #superconductivity. These planar coils are the building blocks of our stellarator tech, and we’ve designed, built, and tested this planar magnet fully in-house.   Stay tuned for more milestones later this year as we demonstrate our ability to create and dynamically control a stellarator’s precise and complex magnetic field using only planar magnets. Swipe through the below slides to learn more!

⭐⭐Thea Energy interns are doing stellar work!⭐⭐ Thank you to our intern team for contributing new perspectives while tackling challenging engineering and physics projects this summer! Your hard work and enthusiasm will have a lasting impact on our path to commercial #fusion and creating a sustainable future. #InternAppreciationDay #InternDay

New global fusion industry report out now! Today we launch our 2024 report, giving an updated snapshot of where the private fusion industry stands. The global fusion industry has now attracted over $7.1bn of investment, with over $900m of new funds backing the technology since last year. Total public funding increased by 57% in the last 12 months to $426m, showing governments increasingly see public-private partnerships as central to making commercial fusion a reality. Companies remain steadfast in their projected timelines for producing fusion-generated electricity in the 2030s, with 89% of the companies responding to the survey anticipating that fusion will provide electricity to the grid by the end of 2030s, and 70% of the companies saying that milestone will happen by the end of 2035. Over 4,000 people around the world are now employed at private fusion companies. However, there are still major challenges to overcome and, between 2025 and 2030, two-thirds of respondents believe power efficiency will be a major challenge, while the same proportion (66%) believe funding will be a barrier to success. Read the full report to gain further insight into today’s global fusion industry and profiles of the developers. About the Report This is the fourth annual “Global Fusion Industry Report” from the Fusion Industry Association. Responses are based on answers to a survey issued to private fusion companies. This survey should be seen as a snapshot in time; a view of the industry when the survey was conducted in the second quarter of 2024. Repeating the activity year-on-year enables us to see the picture evolving. https://lnkd.in/ehrCBjPM #FusionEnergy #FusionIndustry

Attending #TCW24? Our Director of Fusion Systems, Dr. Charles Swanson, will present at 10:30 a.m. ET on Monday, June 17. Join his session for more on traditional and novel supply chain constraints for the growing #fusion industry as well as Thea Energy’s work to reinvent the #stellarator.

Yesterday, we convened at the White House in a landmark event with other awardees of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program, industry executives, researchers, and government leaders to discuss new funding opportunities as well as strategies supporting this game-changing technology. There has been significant progress in the past two years since the launch of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial Fusion Energy. We are proud to be one of the eight companies to sign agreements with the DOE, an important first step towards pilot plants that will support the rapid deployment of #CleanEnergy for generations to come. Additional energizing (literally) work remains for both the private companies to deliver on these milestones as well as the government to continue to push for necessary support and maintain U.S. leadership in fusion. Read more: https://ow.ly/koZy50SbTV4

It's been two years since the Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial Fusion Energy was released! Join the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy online tomorrow from 3-5 p.m. EDT for an event to mark the anniversary and discuss the progress that we have made. The event will feature remarks by leaders in the government (including the Department of Energy), industry and academia: https://lnkd.in/es3HZhzB