Thea Energy Advances Fusion Energy with Helios Power Plant Digital Twin

Thea Energy, Inc., a technology company advancing the stellarator for the commercialization of a source of baseload fusion power, shares collaborations to develop a digital twin model for its “Helios” fusion power plant. Using artificial intelligence (AI) and computational tools, Thea Energy will work with NVIDIA and Synopsys, as well as the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) to analyze and scale vast datasets, enhance Thea Energy’s plant designs, and stress-test system operations.

“This is a critical public-private collaboration, where Thea Energy is leveraging AI to build systems on time and on budget, keeping us on track to delivering on-demand, abundant fusion power by 2035,” says David Gates, Ph.D., co-founder and chief technology officer of Thea Energy. “Our planar coil stellarator architecture also utilizes AI for its software controls to continuously reoptimize the system and correct for wear-and-tear.

"With this collaboration, we are expanding our AI applications to include multifaceted device modeling at the click of a button," Gates continues. "With the Helios digital twin, we can shorten development cycles and essentially run the system before we even put a shovel in the ground."

Through these collaborations: 

• NVIDIA will accelerate and integrate Thea Energy’s models, codes, and real-world data into a digital twin platform using NVIDIA Omniverse libraries. Powered by NVIDIA AI infrastructure, this platform will allow Thea Energy to analyze power plant performance in real-time.
• Synopsys will deliver simulation software expertise to integrate data into a unified multiphysics framework. This Ansys simulation-driven, AI-accelerated approach allows for the rapid evaluation of Thea Energy’s breeding blanket system.
• ANL will contribute expertise in neutronics analysis and blanket design as well as data that will be integrated into the Helios digital twin to bridge the knowledge gap in commercial blanket systems.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.