Exclusive: Renaissance Fusion raises €32M to radically simplify complex fusion reactors
Summary
He has drawn inspiration from various projects over the years, which have culminated in a unique take on a fusion reactor design thats attracting the attention of investors.Renaissance raised a 32 million Series A1, the company exclusively told TechCrunch. The startup plans to use those funds to build a demonstrator that should prove the basic parts of its novel design.Fusion power promises to generate large amounts of clean electricity from an abundant source of fuel. It isnt the only company to try to do so Thea Energy is another and its approach blends rather than reinvents.The startups reactor design looks like a polygon of segmented tubes, each decorated with etchings that resemble lines on a topographic map. But the lines arent frippery; instead, they demarcate the high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets that define the quirky contours of the plasma inside.I really wanted to simplify these to the bare minimum, Volpe told TechCrunch.The first simplification the segmented tubes was inspired by his graduate research using Wendelstein 7-AS, an experimental stellarator.When you look at that from the top, you kind of recognize a pentagonal form, he said. The liquid blanket will also do triple duty by breeding more fuel for the reactor and transferring heat to power steam turbines.Volpe said that Renaissance is on track to produce wide HTS carpets in the coming months.