ESG Today reports that Helion's CEO, David Kirtley, said that the agreement represents a milestone for his company and that nuclear fusion could be one of the drivers of net-zero energy system of the future.

"We are grateful for the support of a visionary company like Microsoft. We still have a lot of work to do, but we are confident in our ability to deliver the world’s first fusion power facility", he added.

Helion is a clean energy startup founded in 2013 and its nuclear fusion system implies using pulse non-ignition, which should help overcome some of the challenges of normal regular fusion technologies.

Helion expects to be able to fully demonstrate the capabilities of its power system next years, as it currently works on its seventh-generation nuclear prototype. Its commercially-available power plant could come online in 2028 and company officials say that it could generate as much as 50 MW of power in its first year.