Thea Energy, Inc., a Kearny-based fusion technology company advancing the stellarator for the commercialization of a carbon-free and abundant source of energy, announced the certification of its preconceptual “Helios” pilot plant design by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) following a detailed review by a panel of independent fusion experts.
This preconceptual design review marks the completion of the final major milestone in the DOE’s Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program (“the Milestone Program”), and Thea Energy is the first awardee company to receive certification of its pilot plant design.
The Milestone Program launched in with $46 million in funding across eight private fusion companies to support progress on the path to commercial power plants.
Modeled after the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, essential in launching the private space industry, the Milestone Program supports companies focused on grid-scale power through non-dilutive capital and external validation, where funds are only paid when key milestones that de-risk fusion technologies are completed and approved by a review panel.
The U.S. DOE approved completion of the Helios preconceptual design following a detailed report review by independent experts from national laboratories, research institutions and universities focused on fusion.
Members of the DOE review team visited Thea Energy’s headquarters in Kearny as part of the certification. Reviewers focused on comprehensively validating that the company has a system architecture and a robust path toward deploying a fusion power plant.
Other disclosed milestones completed by Thea Energy since selection in 2023 include the successful performance of the world’s first superconducting planar coil magnet array and the down selection to a family of stellarator plasma configurations.
“This final design milestone, now certified by the DOE, substantiates the validity of the planar coil stellarator and shows a clear pathway to a deployable power plant,” said Brian Berzin, co-founder and chief executive officer of Thea Energy. “Practicality, conservatism and engineering margins are emphasized in Helios, and the DOE has recognized those differentiators in this design.
“The Helios preconceptual design reflects decades of specialized expertise, now vetted and confirmed by fusion leaders and foremost technical authorities. This significant approval allows us to definitively communicate confidence in this design to the interested power offtakers and hyperscalers that we are in conversations with.
“Working with the DOE across this milestone, and eight prior, ensured team Thea approached each cornerstone with rigor, scrutiny and thoroughness. Now is the time to prioritize fusion and the teams driving meaningful progress, and we strongly support the expansion of the Milestone Program to align with the industry’s commercialization goals.”
“The inaugural period of the Milestone Program’s goal is to see companies demonstrate critical underlying technologies while on the path to a preconceptual fusion pilot plant design,” said Jean Paul Allain, Ph.D., associate director for fusion energy sciences in the DOE Office of Science.
“Thea Energy tackled key milestones swiftly and enthusiastically leading to this in-depth design for a modernized stellarator system — summarized in a 200-page report to the DOE. The Milestone Program mandates a heightened level of accountability from awardees, and we look forward to seeing Thea Energy’s continued momentum.”
Thea Energy is on track to operate Helios in the 2030s following Eos, its large-scale demonstration system that will create power-plant-relevant, steady-state fusion. Eos will directly benefit from the breakthroughs highlighted in the company’s Helios design and is scheduled to be online by 2030.
Thea Energy is currently in conversations with five states for the siting of Eos and expects to select and announce a location for the integrated system in 2026.
