Thea Energy has partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to test a full-scale superconducting magnet designed for its next-generation stellarator, marking another step in the company’s effort to develop a commercial fusion power plant by 2035.

The collaboration will see Thea Energy and MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) test a full-field, full-force planar encircling coil for the company’s Eos stellarator. The tests will assess whether the magnet can withstand the intense magnetic fields and mechanical forces expected during power-plant operation.

The work will use MIT’s cryogenic testing facilities and its expertise in high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets. The partners will also examine the coil’s efficiency under power-plant-relevant conditions and develop predictive models to assess its performance.

Stellarators use magnetic fields to confine superheated plasma, the electrically charged gas in which fusion reactions take place. Their magnets must maintain precise field configurations while withstanding substantial mechanical stresses.

Traditional stellarator magnets have complex three-dimensional shapes, making them difficult and expensive to manufacture. Thea Energy is pursuing a different approach with a planar-coil architecture intended to simplify magnet production, construction and maintenance.

The company’s Eos design uses 12 encircling coils alongside approximately 300 programmable shaping magnets. The encircling coils generate the magnetic field needed to confine the plasma, while the smaller shaping magnets fine-tune its configuration.

The modular shaping magnets can be adjusted in strength and replaced individually to account for variations during assembly, as well as wear and tear during operation. Thea Energy says it has already built and validated these shaping coils at full scale.

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