Helical Fusion and Aoki Super have signed a groundbreaking deal to use nuclear fusion energy to power Aoki Super's grocery stores.
The U.S. Department of Energy says that fusion energy mimics how stars burn. When two atoms, usually hydrogen, come together, they form helium. Helium atoms are heavier, and the reaction creates energy and heat.
This energy can be harnessed to power businesses, neighborhoods, and even cities.
According to a Helical Fusion news release, this power purchase agreement is the first of its kind to be signed in Japan. These agreements are, as the DOE states, between a renewable energy developer and a consumer. Their prices are often set below the utility's retail price, making renewable energy that much more affordable than coal, oil, or gas.
Though fusion energy isn't completely renewable, it's cleaner than those fossil fuels and even nuclear fission energy. It doesn't create air pollution like fossil fuels or radioactive waste like fission.
Fusion still has decades to go in terms of being widely available, and it creates an immense amount of heat. But it's promising nonetheless.
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Helical Fusion and Aoki Super both believe that the Helical Stellarator power plant is also promising. It is still under development, but Aoki Super said it will meet the chain's energy needs.
Aoki Super has also participated in many social initiatives over the years. According to its 2024 sustainability report, it signed the U.N.'s Women's Empowerment Principles in 2013. It supports the Collaboration Platform for Tackling Loneliness and Isolation and participates in the Impact Investment Initiative for Global Health.
As for Helical Fusion, it hopes to open its first power plant in the 2030s. Its Helix Program has three requirements for fusion power: stable and consistent operation, net positive energy output, and efficient maintenance. With continued effort, the startup believes that the Helical Stellarator will meet those requirements in the next decade or so.
World Nuclear News stated that the stellarator's figure-eight shape is different from that of tokamak reactors. Tokamaks are toroid-shaped (like a doughnut), and researchers in the United Kingdom are decommissioning one called the Joint European Torus.
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