China makes fusion tech breakthrough with world's first HH70 Tokamak

China witnessed a historic moment with the completion and operation of the world's first fully high-temperature superconducting tokamak device, named HH70, in its eastern Municipality of Shanghai on Tuesday, marking a significant leap forward in global fusion technology development for clean energy.

Tokamak devices, often called "artificial suns," are traditionally large and expensive. 

Designed and built by a commercial company, Energy Singularity, the HH70 is smaller and cheaper to produce, paving the way for more commercially viable fusion reactors in the future, said Guo Houyang, co-founder and CTO of Energy Singularity. 

The HH70 boasts a magnetic system constructed from high-temperature superconducting materials, a global first. Energy Singularity achieved this feat within two years, setting a world record for the fastest development and construction of a superconducting tokamak device. 

The successful operation of the HH70 marks a significant milestone for China. It signifies a major step forward in verifying the engineering feasibility of high-temperature superconducting tokamaks, paving the way for a clean and sustainable energy future.

According to the World Energy Outlook, if fossil fuel like oil, natural gas and coal gradually exit the global market, humans will face more than a 10 percent energy shortage by 2050. This is a huge opportunity and a challenge for taming controlled nuclear fusion energy.

Over the past few years, breakthroughs in high-temperature superconducting materials and other technologies have made it possible to develop an economically viable tokamak, according to Guo. The tokamak is an experimental machine designed to harness the energy of fusion. Controlled nuclear fusion offers a clean and sustainable energy solution that could help combat climate change and resource depletion, said Gao. 

By 2027, Energy Singularity aims to build a next-generation tokamak, a steady-state, high-magnetic-field, high-temperature superconducting model. This project will lay the groundwork for commercially viable fusion energy acquisition, with an ultimate goal of a demonstration power plant by 2030, Guo added.