Helion gets $175 million to develop power semiconductors

Fusion startup Helion has received a $175 million federal award to research, develop and manufacture semiconductors and power electronics for its power plants, the company announced Thursday. The three-year award comes from the U.S. Department of Commerce under the CHIPS Act.

Helion says its current power electronics lose about 5% to 10% of the electricity passing through them. CEO and co-founder David Kirtley told TechCrunch that cutting those losses in half could double a fusion system’s power output.

The funding will support automated production, packaging and testing capacity for semiconductor modules. Helion plans to build a production line in Washington State, and more than $100 million of the award will go to semiconductor and advanced packaging research and development there. About $80 million will support work in Vermont on semiconductor tooling, design and process development with GlobalFoundries, Kirtley told TechCrunch.

Helion also announced a $50 million private investment but did not name the investor. The company has raised more than $3.2 billion in total.

The improvements are not expected to reach Orion, Helion’s first plant, in time for its planned 2028 effort to provide electricity to Microsoft. Kirtley said the research could improve the efficiency of later plants. Helion’s approach is designed to capture electricity directly from fusion reactions, rather than using heat to drive a turbine.