Helion Energy—a startup at the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), advanced energy, and sustainable technology—announced it had begun construction of its first commercial nuclear fusion power plant. Located in Malaga, Washington, along the banks of the Columbia River, this pioneering facility aims to deliver clean, fusion-generated electricity directly to Microsoft’s vast data center operations by 2028, marking a watershed moment in both tech and energy industries.
A Helion Energy Vision Years in the Making
Helion Energy, supported by marquee investors including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SoftBank, has spent years pushing the boundaries of fusion research. Unlike traditional nuclear fission, fusion works by smashing light atoms together, releasing tremendous energy without emitting greenhouse gases or generating significant long-term radioactive waste—a key differentiator for sustainability and public acceptance.
The Malaga site, chosen for its proximity to Washington state’s robust grid infrastructure and the Rock Island Dam, represents Helion’s first attempt to scale fusion from lab prototype to a power source for real-world customers.
Microsoft’s Commitment to Carbon-Free Power
Microsoft has long been a vocal advocate for decarbonizing the global energy grid, consistently investing in a mix of renewables and nuclear power to reduce the carbon footprint of its sprawling Azure and data center footprints. Melanie Nakagawa, Microsoft’s chief sustainability officer, emphasized the significance of the partnership:
“Over the last three, four years, you’ve been seeing from across the fusion space different types of milestones being met by other companies and peers, Helion included… There’s a lot of optimism that this could be the moment that fusion actually comes forward within this decade, or near in this decade.”
Microsoft’s 2023 strategic deal with Helion secured a future pipeline of zero-carbon electricity, making it the first company to agree to buy commercial fusion energy.
Fusion’s Technical Promise and Challenges
Fusion is often cited as the “holy grail” of energy: it promises to generate virtually limitless power, with minimal environmental impact and zero carbon emissions. However, achieving “net energy gain”—creating more energy than the process consumes—remains one of science’s great challenges, even as billions in global investment have rapidly advanced the field’s progress.
Helion’s current operational prototype, Polaris (based in Everett, Washington), will serve as the model for the Malaga site’s new reactor, Orion. The company intends to use this new reactor to make the leap from research to reliable, grid-scale electricity production within the next three years. “We’ll actually be able to connect to the exact same grid just upstream of the Microsoft data centers,” explained Dr. David Kirtley, Helion’s co-founder and CEO, to Reuters.
The Road to Commercial Fusion
Before Helion can power Microsoft data centers, it still faces significant regulatory hurdles. While initial construction is underway, the company must secure final state permits before it can operate the plant. Key milestones on the path include integrating with Washington’s primary power delivery network and further demonstrating the stability and safety of sustained fusion reactions.
Despite the remaining scientific and regulatory challenges, optimism abounds. In recent years, various fusion projects globally—including Helion—have reported milestone achievements, giving both the energy and tech industries hope that commercial fusion could become a reality within the decade.
What This Means for Microsoft, AI, and Cloud Computing
The implications for cloud computing, AI, and big data are profound. Microsoft’s data centers—serving millions of global Azure, Office, Xbox, and Copilot users—require enormous, reliable power. As AI workloads grow in size and sophistication, so does their energy demand. This is especially relevant as Microsoft and OpenAI are currently in advanced talks to extend and deepen their partnership for the next wave of artificial general intelligence (AGI). The synergy is clear: clean, abundant fusion power could become the backbone not only for sustainable tech infrastructure but also for the next era of AI innovation.
The Strategic Importance of the Microsoft-Helion Deal
Helion’s connection to OpenAI through Sam Altman—and the possibility of powering the very data centers enabling next-generation AI—highlights how tight the weave between energy and software has become. Microsoft, by securing early access to fusion power, positions itself at the nexus of sustainability, competitive infrastructure, and strategic leadership for an AI-driven future.
What’s Next?
As of today, the Malaga construction site is bustling with activity, foundational to the hope that by 2028, Microsoft data centers in Washington may flip the switch on the world’s first commercial fusion-powered cloud. This project, still in its early stages, will be closely watched by the entire technology and clean energy community as an indicator of whether fusion is finally ready to scale up and deliver on decades of promise.
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