U.S. Department of Energy Approves Zap Energy’s Fusion Capacitor Design and First Prototype

(Zap Energy Photo)

Zap Energy - Zap designs a 35-kilovolt capacitor for six billion pulses and manufactures its first capacitor in house under the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program

Pulsed power, delivered quickly and reliably by banks of high-voltage capacitors, is a key enabling technology for many approaches to fusion energy, including Zap Energy’s sheared-flow-stabilized Z pinch. Developing capacitors capable of operating at high repetition rates over billions of pulses is an important step toward commercial fusion power plants.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has approved two Zap Energy capacitor development milestones under the Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program: a detailed design for a pulsed power capacitor built for the repetition rate and operating lifetime needed in a fusion power plant, and a first prototype capacitor designed, manufactured and tested entirely at Zap. Together, the milestones demonstrate progress in both long-life capacitor design and the U.S.-based manufacturing capabilities needed to produce these components at scale.

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