SEATTLE — Helion Energy, the Everett-based fusion company aiming to build the world’s first commercial fusion power plant, opened a downtown Seattle office Tuesday for its business team as part of its expansion.
CEO David Kirtley announced the move on LinkedIn, saying Helion has grown from 80 employees to 800 over the past four years at its Everett headquarters. The Seattle office will support further company-wide growth, he said.
Governor Bob Ferguson, in a statement on X praised the expansion, noting that Helion now employs people in Everett, Seattle and Chelan County. Ferguson, who recently spoke at Fusion Week in the Tri-Cities, said the state’s fusion research and the plant under construction position Washington as a global leader in the field.
“Our state is home to the cutting-edge research that makes this industry possible, and the first commercial fusion energy facility under construction,” Gov. Ferguson wrote. “Excited for more clean energy and good jobs in our state.”
Helion, founded in 2013, relocated its headquarters to Everett around 2022. It is constructing the Orion facility in Malaga, Chelan County, designed to deliver at least 50 megawatts of electricity to Microsoft data centers beginning in 2028 under a 2023 power purchase agreement. In June, Helion became the first company to receive Washington Department of Health licenses for radioactive materials and air emissions at the site.
The company has raised more than $1.5 billion and was valued at $15.5 billion after a $465 million funding round earlier this year. State lawmakers have classified fusion as clean energy, separate from traditional nuclear fission, to ease permitting. Fusion remains unproven at commercial scale, and experts note significant technical hurdles remain before any plant can deliver reliable grid power.
Helion and fellow Everett startup Zap Energy have both helped make Washington state a hub for private fusion development.
Author: Mario Lotmore
