SUNYA Energy

Zap Energy attracts $130mm in fresh capital as demo power plant system begins operations and aims for first milestone

October 9, 2024
SUNYA Summary
- Century is the first fully-integrated demonstration of several fusion power plant-relevant technologies, including a significant test of a plasma-facing liquid metal blanket. - It has successfully completed over 1,000 consecutive plasmas in a short duration in a chamber lined with flowing liquid metal. - Zap Energy raised $130 million in Series D funding, led by Soros Fund Management LLC and supported by several new investors. - The funding will advance plasma R&D and systems-level plant engineering, including new generations of the FuZE device and a pulsed power capacitor bank. - The team aims to achieve a milestone as part of the DOE's Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program by year-end. - Zap CEO Benj Conway emphasized a parallel approach to fusion commercialization, integrating science, engineering, and commercialization simultaneously. - The company's fusion approach, sheared-flow-stabilized Z pinch, avoids large superconducting magnets and is smaller than conventional systems. - It is crucial for plasmas to meet the triple product criteria for fusion energy generation: they must be hot enough, dense enough, and long enough. - Zap has a history of rapid progress in plasma physics and is developing new devices to harness fusion energy. - Century aims to integrate and test three major power design aspects: pulsed power supplies, plasma-facing circulating liquid metal walls, and strategies to mitigate electrode damage. - Century will fire high-voltage power pulses every ten seconds and circulate up to 70 kilograms of hot liquid bismuth initially. - The structure uniquely orients the Z-pinch chamber vertically with pulsed power injected from the top and cooling liquid metals circulating at the base. - The first test of plasmas and flowing liquid metal was on June 13, achieving a run of 1,080 consecutive shots shortly after. - The project will gradually ramp to 100 kilowatts of power, roughly equivalent to the energy use of 75 U.S. homes. - Century is close to the size of a future Zap Energy module designed to produce 50 megawatts of electricity. - Zap Energy focuses on creating a low-cost, compact, and scalable fusion energy platform and has 150 employees across Seattle and San Diego.
PRESS RELEASE
Zap Energy attracts $130M in fresh capital as demo power plant system begins operations and aims for first milestone:

Century is the first fully-integrated demonstration of several fusion power plant-relevant technologies, including one of the largest tests of a plasma-facing liquid metal blanket to date. Century has already demonstrated a test run of more than 1,000 consecutive plasmas in less than three hours into a chamber lined with flowing liquid metal.

Zap's $130 million Series D was led by Soros Fund Management LLC, with participation by new investors that include BAM Elevate, Emerson Collective, Leitmotif, Mizuho Financial Group, Plynth Energy and Xplor Ventures. Current investors participating in the new round include Addition, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, DCVC, Energy Impact Partners, Lowercarbon Capital and Shell Ventures.

The new funding will be used to continue parallel development of both plasma R&D and systems-level plant engineering and integration, including the next generation in the company's FuZE device series and a cutting-edge pulsed power capacitor bank.

The team is now attempting to reach a milestone outlined as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program, and hopes to do so by the end of the year.

"The race for fusion commercialization has historically been thought of as a triathlon: science, then engineering, then commercialization," says Zap CEO Benj Conway. "But at Zap, we're attempting to swim, cycle and run at the same time – such a parallel approach is key to delivering commercial fusion on a timescale that matters. Century is a vital part of the engineering leg and we're quickly coming up to speed."

Z-pinch fusion from lab to grid

Zap Energy's fusion approach, known as a sheared-flow-stabilized Z pinch, avoids large superconducting magnets and powerful lasers, and is far smaller than conventional systems.

To generate net energy from fusion, regardless of the type of device, the plasmas inside must satisfy fusion's triple product: they must be hot enough, and dense enough, for long enough. With a track record of rapid progress in plasma physics using two workhorse fusion devices, and recent results reinforcing the viability of the path ahead, Zap has begun work engineering new devices to face greater extremes and harness fusion's energy output.

"From its inception, Zap Energy's founders had an idea of how a power plant based on our Z-pinch configuration would work," says Zap Vice President of Systems Engineering Matthew C. Thompson. "Our job is to develop and validate those plans by actually building, testing and maturing key technologies. Century is our next major step in that effort."

About Century

Century is the world's first 100-kilowatt-scale repetitive Z-pinch system. Its goal is to integrate and test three major aspects of Zap's power design: repetitive pulsed power supplies, plasma-facing circulating liquid metal walls, and technology for mitigating electrode damage.

Century is designed to simulate plant-like operation by:

  • Firing high-voltage pulses of power every ten seconds in a steady sequence for more than two hours (>1,000 pulses at 0.1 Hz).
  • Circulating 70 kilograms of hot liquid bismuth in its initial configuration and well over a ton in its final configuration. Air-cooled heat exchangers will remove the intense plasma heat absorbed by the liquid metal.
  • Testing critical strategies for mitigating electrode damage due to extreme heat and neutron flux.

"Zap's fusion approach is pulsed, so ultimately it will run like an internal combustion engine with cylinders firing all day long to produce steady energy output," explains Thompson. "As you do that you also generate large neutron flux and heat loads in the system over time, which is exactly the energy output that you want, but requires unique engineering solutions. Century will test a lot of our assumptions and define the best path toward our first plant."

Century's structure is the first to take Zap's sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch chamber design and orient it vertically. Pulsed power is injected through the top of the device while liquid metals circulate in a receptacle at the base. Independent test stands built over the past two years at Zap validated previous generations of each of Century's subsystems.

The first test of plasmas and flowing liquid metal occurred on June 13 and a few weeks later completed a run of 1,080 consecutive shots. Century's next aim is a milestone run for the DOE, which will be subject to confirmation by the program.

Next year the platform will gradually ramp to 100 kilowatts of average input power. For comparison, the 100 kilowatts that drives Century is roughly equal to taking the average power draw of 75 U.S. homes and concentrating it into a chamber the size of a hot water heater.

Century, with a central stack about the size of a double-decker bus, is close to the eventual size of a single Zap Energy module that will produce 50 megawatts of electricity. Future power plants will have multiple modules.

About Zap Energy

Zap Energy is building a low-cost, compact and scalable fusion energy platform that confines and compresses plasma without the need for expensive and complex magnetic coils. Zap's sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch technology provides compelling fusion economics and requires orders of magnitude less capital than conventional approaches. Zap Energy has 150 employees in Seattle and San Diego and is backed by leading financial and strategic investors. Learn more at zapenergy.com.

High resolution images available upon request.

SOURCE Zap Energy Inc