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In July of this year, SCOA announced its investment into California-based TAE Technologies, a fusion power company and world leader in hydrogen-boron fusion research. This will help fund the construction of TAE’s next research reactor, “Copernicus”, and help SCOA contribute to the development of fusion power in Japan and the rest of Asia as part of the Company’s goal of helping create a carbon-neutral society.
Most countries are seeking pathways toward industrial carbon neutrality, with the demand for global electric power expected to triple over the next 30 years. Due to the lack of renewable resources, Southeast Asia will see its electricity demand more than double: the region’s fossil fuel dependency for the next two decades could extend even further. Despite public associations of meltdowns and radioactive waste with nuclear power, many countries will need to meet the increasing demand of carbon-free resources and baseload power, which nuclear power plants can provide.
Nuclear fusion power is expected to be a next-generation baseload power source as alternative forms of power serve a crucial supply to keep up with this energy demand; many see this as the best long-term solution for green energy. Copernicus is TAE’s current reactor prototype, and could potentially take its place as the world’s first fusion reactor to realize temperature requirements for nuclear fusion power generation. Designed to demonstrate the viability of achieving net energy generation, TAE’s advanced beam-driven field-reversed configuration (FRC) is the penultimate step on TAE’s path to commercialize clean fusion power. Copernicus is the vital stepping stone to the birth of the next-generation fusion reactor.
“We look forward to being a partner in bringing TAE’s clean energy solutions to the Asian market, which will be paramount to sustaining local economies without impacting our planet,” said Sandro
Hasegawa, General Manager, Energy Innovation Initiative Americas at SCOA.
SCOA’s Business Development Group (BDG) continues to research game-changing clean energy innovations, and identified TAE as a key player with a differentiated technological approach and a clean environmental profile. TAE’s approach differs from other nuclear fusion technologies in development because of its unique combination of plasma and accelerator physics. In addition, TAE’s preferred fuel source of abundant hydrogen-boron bears no environmental impact, particulate emissions, radioactivity or fuel scarcity. TAE’s technology recreates a reaction — similar to that of the sun’s energy production — to produce energy that is non-radioactive, creating the fastest, most practical, and economically competitive solution to bring abundant carbon-free energy to the grid.
“The caliber and interest of our investors validates our significant technical progress and supports our goal to begin commercialization of fusion by the end of this decade,” said Michl Binderbauer, CEO of TAE. “Global energy demand is growing exponentially, and we have a moral obligation to do our utmost to develop a baseload power solution that is safe, carbon-free, and economically viable.”
This investment will act as a springboard for SCOA to develop a foundation or “ecosystem” that surrounds the nuclear fusion power field, allowing the company to accelerate its position as a vital player in the power production business. In the mid-term, SCOA will continue to leverage its experience and business network to apply this resource across multiple markets and sectors, hoping to one day emerge as a leader in the de-carbonization of society.
