What has the Tokyo Metropolitan Government selected Helical Fusion for?

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government selected Helical Fusion as one of five projects in its SusHi Tech Global Resource and Energy Resilience Enhancement Program, announced on October 26, 2026. Each project can receive up to ¥200 million over up to 18 months, alongside tailored support.

What is Helical Fusion?

Helical Fusion is a Japanese fusion energy company founded in 2021 as a spin-off from the National Institute for Fusion Science. It is developing a helical stellarator power plant, a fusion device that uses superconducting helical coils to hold hot plasma in a magnetic field.

What is a high-temperature superconducting magnet?

A high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet is a powerful electromagnet made from cable that carries current with no electrical resistance when cooled. Fusion devices need strong magnetic fields to confine plasma, and HTS magnets are a core component of commercial fusion reactors.

What will the Tokyo funding be used for?

The Tokyo project list describes the work as innovation in superconducting cable connection to establish production technology for real devices. It follows the October 2025 coil test of HTS conductor developed by Helical Fusion, as the cable goes into the Helix HARUKA demonstration device.

What is Helix HARUKA?

Helix HARUKA is the integrated demonstration device under construction by Helical Fusion at a dedicated workspace for the joint research group it formed with the National Institute for Fusion Science, on the institute campus in Toki, Gifu Prefecture. Phase 1 is a magnet demonstration that current-tests a non-planar helical HTS magnet system.

When does Helical Fusion expect to generate fusion power?

Under its Helix Program, Helical Fusion plans integrated demonstration with Helix HARUKA and power generation with its first power plant, Helix KANATA, during the 2030s.

How is Helical Fusion funded?

Helical Fusion is funded through venture rounds, government grants and loans. It closed a ¥2.3 billion Series A in July 2025, received ¥2 billion under the Japanese SBIR Phase 3 programme for HTS development, and announced the first close of a Series B round in April 2026. The Tokyo programme adds support of up to ¥200 million per project.

What did the Helical Fusion HTS coil test demonstrate?

In October 2025 Helical Fusion reported a stable superconducting current of 40 kA in an HTS coil built without electrical insulation, at 15 K under a 7 tesla external magnetic field. The test used the large-diameter, high-field conductor test facility at the National Institute for Fusion Science, with the external field applied alongside the field generated by the coil itself to simulate the magnetic environment inside a fusion device.

What does the Tokyo-backed project mean for HTS magnet supply chains?

Support under the Tokyo programme includes partner searches, market research and proof of concept work, and Helical Fusion plans to work with manufacturing partners and academic institutions in Tokyo on the project. The Helix HARUKA build already draws on domestic Japanese manufacturers, and in April 2026 Helical Fusion named NICHIAS, Hasetora Spinning and Seno Kisen as founding Helix Program Official Partners, a framework intended to support manufacturing and construction for Helix HARUKA. As analytical context, production technology for cable connections bears on how HTS magnet conductors are made for full-scale devices.

What timeline and outcomes matter for commercial deployment?

The planned schedule from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government places the funded work between November 2026 and April 2028. Under the Helix Program, Helical Fusion plans to complete standalone demonstrations of its HTS magnets and its blanket and divertor system during the 2020s, then move to integrated demonstration in Helix HARUKA and power generation with Helix KANATA in the 2030s. The program defines commercial viability by three requirements, which are steady-state operation, net electricity output and maintainability.

Tokyo backs Helical Fusion’s HTS magnet production work

Category: Magnets, Stellerator, Superconductors

October 28, 2026

Sample of the HTS conductor developed by Helical Fusion, built from linked metal blocks and copper sections, central to HTS magnet production.

Cable connections are the focus of Helical’s Tokyo-backed HTS magnet production work

(Image courtesy of Helical Fusion)

Helical Fusion is one of five projects the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has selected from its SusHi Tech Global Startups cohort for a resource and energy resilience programme offering up to ¥200 million per project. Helical’s project covers HTS magnet production, with innovation in superconducting cable connection aimed at establishing production technology for real devices, following the coil test in October last year and as the cable goes into the Helix HARUKA demonstration device.

Up to ¥200 million for HTS magnet production

Tokyo announced the selections this week for a programme aimed at accelerating a shift in energy structure away from reliance on oil alone. Each project can receive up to ¥200 million over up to 18 months, alongside tailored support spanning partner searches, market research, business strategy and proof of concept work, and Tokyo files Helical Fusion’s project under new energy. Of the other four, two cover resource recycling, one covers alternative resources and one pairs sewage sludge power generation with CO2 capture.

HTS magnet production follows the coil test

The work builds on the coil test in October last year, in which Helical’s HTS conductor carried a stable 40 kA at 15 K in a coil built without electrical insulation, with a 7 tesla external field applied alongside the coil’s own field to simulate the magnetic environment inside a fusion device.

The cable is now going into Helix HARUKA, which has its conductor winding completed and its helical coil covered. Phase 1 is a magnet demonstration that current-tests a non-planar helical HTS magnet system, being built in a dedicated workspace for the joint research group Helical formed with the National Institute for Fusion Science, on the institute’s campus in Toki, Gifu Prefecture.

Cable connections on the way to Helix HARUKA

Tokyo’s programme timetable places the funded work between November this year and April 2028, inside the period in which Helical Fusion plans to complete standalone demonstrations of its HTS magnets and its blanket and divertor system. The Helix Program then moves to integrated demonstration in Helix HARUKA and power generation with Helix KANATA in the 2030s, and the same HTS technology has expected applications in data centres and high-capacity grid power supply.

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Tokyo backs Helical Fusion’s HTS magnet production work

Up to ¥200 million for HTS magnet production

HTS magnet production follows the coil test

Cable connections on the way to Helix HARUKA

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