China begins building hydrogen-boron fusion device

Officials from relevant departments of Hebei Province and Langfang City, as well as representatives from the project construction unit, design unit, construction unit, and supervision unit, attended the groundbreaking ceremony 15 September. During the ceremony, the foundation stone for the project was laid.

The Helong-2 project - to be constructed by China Construction First Group Construction and Development Company - covers an area of ​​about 120 acres and focuses on the construction of more than ten core systems to create a world-leading hydrogen-boron fusion experimental platform. It is expected that the facility will be ready for equipment installation by the end of June 2027, and the construction and commissioning of the device will be completed and the experimental phase will begin by the end of 2027. The goal is to generate the first electricity through hydrogen-boron fusion in 2030.

_{(Image: ENN)}

"Helong-2, as the third-generation fusion device built by ENN, is a key engineering platform for moving towards a fusion smart power plant," said Yu Jianchao, Chairman of ENN Group. "It carries the important mission of breaking through key technologies of hydrogen-boron fusion and exploring new paths for future energy. It is an important milestone in the commercialisation of hydrogen-boron fusion by ENN and an important step on the road to commercialisation of fusion energy in China."

ENN has successively built two generations of hydrogen-boron fusion devices - Xuanlong-50 and Xuanlong-50U - achieving significant breakthroughs in areas such as theoretical research on hydrogen-boron fuels and high-parameter operation of spherical rings.

_{A rendering of the Helong-2 facility (Image: ENN)}

After five years of research and exploration, ENN has established a three-step commercialisation strategy for spherical cyclic hydrogen-boron fusion. The first step is to achieve hydrogen-boron fusion reaction on the Xuanlong-50U device in 2026; the second step is to build the Helong-2 device in 2027 and achieve hydrogen-boron fusion power generation in 2030; the third step is to achieve low-cost power generation and enter the demonstration reactor stage before 2035.

ENN says this technology route is highly compatible with future commercialisation needs due to its "abundant and readily available fuels, low cost, safe and environmentally friendly reaction, and higher energy conversion efficiency".

Hydrogen-boron fusion is an advanced nuclear fusion reaction that combines a hydrogen proton with a boron-11 nucleus to produce harmless helium nuclei (alpha particles) and energy without releasing high-energy neutrons. Several prominent private fusion energy companies - including TAE Technologies of the USA and Marvel Fusion of Germany - are developing hydrogen-boron fusion, also known as proton-boron fusion.