Microsoft and Helion Energy announce first-of-a-kind agreement, as tech giant confirms its overall emissions fell last year
Advanced nuclear technology firm Helion has this week signed a world first power purchase agreement (PPA) to provide Microsoft with electricity from its first commercial fusion power plant.
The deal - which takes Microsoft's total portfolio of carbon-free energy to more than 13.5GW of capacity, spanning more than 135 projects in 16 countries - would see the tech giant provided with clean power from Helion's 50MW plant when it is scheduled to come online in 2028.
Harnessing the same process that powers the Sun and other stars, fusion reactions see energy released when two light atomic nuclei are fused to form one heavier atom. Developing a technology to replicate the process has long been the 'holy grail' of nuclear developers, who have long argued that the approach could enable huge quantities of clean power.
Commercialising fusion reactors remains hugely technically challenging, but US-based Helion claims to have previously built six working prototypes to harness fusion power and was the first private company to hit 100-million-degree plasma temperatures with its latest iteration. The company is currently building its seventh prototype, which is expected to demonstrate the ability to produce electricity in 2024, and maintains that the planned operational date for the first of its commercial facility is "significantly sooner than typical projections for deployment of commercial fusion power".
David Kirtley, CEO at Helion, said the collaboration with Microsoft represents a "significant milestone" for both the firm and the fusion industry as a whole. "We are grateful for the support of a visionary company like Microsoft," he said. "We still have a lot of work to do, but we are confident in our ability to deliver the world's first fusion power facility."
Brad Smith, vice chair and president at Microsoft, said he is optimistic fusion energy can play an important role in helping the world transition to clean energy.
"Helion's announcement supports our own long term clean energy goals and will advance the market to establish a new, efficient method for bringing more clean energy to the grid, faster," he said.
The news came in the same week as Microsoft published its latest sustainability update, announcing that while its business grew by 18 per cent in 2022 overall emissions declined by 0.5 per cent.
According to On the road to 2030: Our 2022 Environmental Sustainability Report, the tech giant slashed Scope One and Two emissions by 22.7 per cent last year, while its Scope Three value chain emissions fell 0.5 per cent despite a 25 per cent increase in purchased goods and services due to business growth.
Microsoft also revealed that it increased reuse and recycle rates of all its cloud hardware to 82 per cent last year, reduced single-use plastics across all packaging by 3.3 per cent, and is on track to eliminate their use entirely by 2025. In total, it diverted 12,159 metric tons of solid waste from landfills during 2022.
"Microsoft's own sustainability is our first sphere of influence, and we remain focused on getting our own house in order and delivering on our 2030 commitments," said Smith and Melanie Nakagawa, Microsoft's chief sustainability officer, in a joint foreword to the report.
They forecast a "decade of innovation" from advancing AI solutions that can help reduce climate impacts, the accelerated development of sustainability markets, and the emergence of new tools to advance emissions measurement and compliance.
"As we look toward 2030 - and beyond - we remain optimistic about our collective ability to decarbonize the global economy while continuing to grow and prosper as a global community," they added.
The announcements come just weeks after Microsoft struck a deal to purchase some 5,000 tonnes of carbon removals credits from UK-based enhanced rock weathering (ERW) specialist UNDO. Under the agreement, UNDO plans to spread 25,000 tonnes of mineral-rich basalt rock on UK agricultural land which the firm said would permanently remove approximately 5,000 tonnes of CO2 over the next 20 years.
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