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Commonwealth Fusion Systems<\/a> said on Thursday it would sell high-temperature superconducting magnets to Realta Fusion<\/a>, the second in a string of deals that suggests the company will lean heavily on its magnet technology in the coming years to bring in much-needed revenue.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the largest deal of this kind to date for CFS,\u201d Rick Needham, the company\u2019s chief commercial officer, told reporters on a call.\u00a0<\/p>\n Commonwealth Fusion Systems, or CFS, previously sold magnets to the WHAM experiment<\/a> at the University of Wisconsin, with which fusion startup Realta collaborates closely. The physics behind WHAM underpins Realta\u2019s approach to fusion power, which is known as a magnetic mirror reactor.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a magnetic mirror, plasma is confined into a shape that resembles two 2-liter soda bottles connected at the base. On each end, powerful magnets punch the plasma and force it back toward the center. Weaker magnets encircle the middle of the bottle shape.\u00a0<\/p>\n To make a more powerful reactor, Khosla-backed Realta<\/a> would only need to expand the middle section, and because those magnets are less powerful, they\u2019re cheaper. Per kilowatt-hour costs should fall as Realta\u2019s reactors increase in size.<\/p>\n CFS is pursuing another form of magnetic confinement fusion called a tokamak. In a tokamak, D-shaped magnets cast powerful fields to keep plasma circulating in a doughnut-like shape inside. Over the years, the company has refined its magnets in pursuit of putting electrons on the grid from Arc, its future commercial-scale reactor that\u2019s slated to be built in Virginia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Both CFS\u2019 and Realta\u2019s existence stem from the magnets themselves. CFS was founded\u00a0in 2018 after scientists at MIT realized that a new class of commercially available high-temperature superconductors could underpin a viable tokamak design. Realta was founded a few years later when physicists at the University of Wisconsin \u201csaw that there was a new technology, a game changer that would enable us to go back to the [magnetic] mirror and avail of those engineering advantages that the concept has,\u201d co-founder and CEO Kieran Furlong said.<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco, CA<\/span> In addition to the Realta and WHAM deals, CFS has also licensed its high-temperature superconducting magnet technology to Type One Fusion<\/a>, which is working on a third type of reactor design known as a stellarator. While the latter deal doesn\u2019t include CFS building actual magnets for the company, it could lead to that one day, Christine Dunn, CFS\u2019 head of external communications, told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n The deals will help CFS pay off its investment in magnet manufacturing. The startup spent seven years and hundreds of millions of dollars building a factory capable of producing high-temperature superconducting magnets designed to fusion-power specifications. So far, that has gone toward building Sparc, the company\u2019s demonstration reactor, which won\u2019t turn on until later this year.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Sparc now 70% complete, it was excellent timing to start supporting Realta with our magnet manufacturing,\u201d Needham said.<\/p>\n Because Realta and Type One are pursuing different reactor designs, CFS apparently doesn\u2019t view them as directly competitive at the moment. In the marketplace, Realta and CFS are even further apart, with the former focusing initially on industrial applications that need large amounts of heat.<\/p>\n
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