Pitch for Investment

Tokamak Energy

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Introduction

The world faces multiple challenges in the energy sector over the next half century, and one of the most difficult questions is how to provide sufficient “baseload” power.

The sector badly needs to wean itself off hydrocarbons but renewables such as wind and solar are not the whole answer. There needs to be a core base layer of power that operates 24/7/365 and one of the few scalable answers is energy from fusion.

Both governments and the private sector are increasing their commitment to the technology and becoming increasingly confident that fusion is a part of the future zero carbon energy mix.

Founded in 2009 as a spin-out from Culham Campus with an initial pre-seed investment from UKI2S, Tokamak Energy is one of the leading companies working to commercialise fusion as a readily available energy source to meet a substantial part of the world’s energy demand.

But energy generation is not the whole picture in fusion. The reaction requires temperatures hotter than the centre of the sun and the strongest available magnetic fields to hold the hot plasma of fuel. The magnets must be superconducting to avoid wasting energy and this means operating at 20K, or -253C. The background vacuum required before the plasma is initiated is much less than that in deep space. There are a whole host of scientific and engineering challenges to be solved, several of which have the potential to deliver a huge impact outside of fusion and form the basis of entire industries of their own. The spin-out technologies may have global impact before the widespread roll out of fusion power plants.

One of the core technologies required is the development of high temperature superconducting (HTS) magnets.

This has been at the heart of Tokamak Energy’s work since they enable the very high magnetic fields required to compress and control fusion plasmas – but without the bulk and energy penalties of previous magnet materials. Over the past decade Tokamak Energy has built a hugely impressive capability in the design and manufacture of HTS magnets and have started to turn its attention to how it might be used in other applications. Areas of interest include scientific instruments to support discovery of new materials and molecules, proton beam therapy, energy storage, mineral processing, and propulsion systems across several areas of transportation from Maglev trains to next generation silent submarines.

The early momentum has prompted the company to take the 400-strong IP patent portfolio and the growing production expertise into a new division, TE Magnetics, to push the magnets forward as a key part of the overall future strategy.

The Science

Unlike fission, fusion energy does not pose the risk of meltdown or produce long-lasting radioactive waste. It does, however, have extremely high energy density and the potential to provide inexhaustible fuel.

“Tokamaks use strong magnetic fields to control the shape and position of the plasma, trapping it long enough for fusion to occur. HTS magnets generate these fields at higher temperatures than conventional superconductors, making them more than five times as energy-efficient.”

Its “fusion magnet coils are wound from HTS tapes, which are multi-layered conductors typically 12mm wide and less than 0.1 mm thick, made mostly of strong and conductive metals, but with a crucial thin internal layer of ‘rare earth barium copper oxide’ (REBCO) superconducting material.”

The company uses advanced winding, testing and production techniques to create its robust, reliable and high performance HTS magnets. TE Magnetics will help unlock the pathway to commercial fusion, whilst enabling a wide range of applications in other industries including medical, science, and propulsion in water, air and space.

UKI2S Impact

Initial £25,000

pathfinder investment

£50 million fundraise

Co-led the company’s 2023 £50 million fundraise

£215 million

capital raised to date (equity and grants)

David Kingham, Executive Vice Chairman of Tokamak Energy said:

“We are excited by the opportunity to tackle the substantial engineering challenges in fusion and motivated by the global impact this technology will have.”

UKI2S led the initial investment round in 2010 and supported the founders in shaping their initial thinking as to how a fusion neutron device might be developed commercially. Since then the UKI2S has invested in further rounds of financing, whilst also helping the company find other private and public investment. Over and above the funding, we have stayed involved at board level, and co-led the Tokamak Energy’s 2023 £50 million fundraise.

Tokamaks are the most researched and best understood path to fusion energy. Despite this, the tech is still a long way from commercial useability. Tokamak Energy has taken its groundbreaking HTS tech and broadened its applications to offer transformations across multiple sectors. From magnet systems to probe atomic and molecular structure during scientific discovery to novel, silent, submarine propulsion and high value mineral separation in mining.

With Tokamak Energy paving the way for a new, abundant energy supply and dozens of other significant applications, the future is looking stellar.

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