Clean and virtually inexhaustible energy. Eni takes a first concrete step towards starting the industrialization of the magnetic confinement fusion process, “the same process – summarized by the San Donato group – which is the basis of the generation of energy in the Sun and in the stars”.
The announcement of the first results on this front comes from the USA, where Cfs (Commonwealth fusion system), a spin off of MIT of which Eni has been the main shareholder since 2018, led the first test in the world of the magnet with superconducting technology Hts, creating the conditions to confine the plasma in future reactors that will be built to produce energy. There is still a long way to go: the first experimental plant will see the light in 2025 and the technology will be available only in 2031. But in Eni there is great expectation for the development of proprietary technology and the US platform, in which the San Donato group intends to maintain an important role also in the next steps of the project’s growth.
Loading…
“The development of innovative technologies is one of the pillars on which Eni’s strategy is based, aimed at the complete abatement of emissions from industrial processes and products, as well as the key to a fair and successful energy transition – explains the CEO. Claudio Descalzi -. For Eni, magnetic confinement fusion plays a central role in the technological research aimed at the path of decarbonizzazione, as it will make it possible to have large quantities of energy produced in a safe, clean and virtually inexhaustible way and without greenhouse gas emissions, changing the paradigm of energy generation. The result obtained during the test demonstrates the strategic importance of our research partnerships and consolidates our contribution to the development of game changer technologies ».
The test involved the use of new generation electromagnets to manage and confine the plasma, that is, the group explains, the mixture of deuterium and tritium brought to high temperatures by electromagnetic wave beams, demonstrating the possibility of ensuring the triggering and control of the melting process. The technology under test could contribute to creating more compact, simple and efficient plants, leading to a reduction in plant costs, ignition and maintenance energy of the fusion process and in the general complexity of the systems, bringing the date to which it will be It is possible to build a demonstration plant that produces more energy than is necessary to trigger the fusion.
«The test – explains Francesca Zarri, Director of Technology, R&D & Digital of the San Donato group – is the first of the three pillars envisaged by the road map of the project towards industrialization. We have shown that it is possible to generate a magnetic field as high as possible and capable of containing the plasma that will one day generate the energy from the fusion process. The next step, in 2025, involves the construction of Sparc, a first experimental plant with net energy production and subsequently that of the first industrial cutting plant, Arc ». Once in production, the plants “will have dimensions comparable to those of a normal gas plant – he explains -, with standard turbines, connected to an electrical infrastructure, without particular infrastructural complexity”. The difference is represented by the fuel: “a quantity equal to a half-liter bottle of water will be enough to power a 150-200 MW power plant for a year,” explains Zarri.