Fusion startup Helion is developing new semiconductors that could double output of its power plants

Fusion startup Helion has been awarded $175 million in federal funding to research, develop, and manufacture advanced semiconductors and power electronics for its fusion power plants, the company announced on Thursday. Currently, those devices lose about 5% to 10% of the electricity that flows through them. While those losses seem small, they can compound themselves in a complex system like Helion's. "If we can cut that loss in half, that's actually twice the power output of the fusion system," David Kirtley, co-founder and CEO at Helion, told TechCrunch. Helion has been racing to complete its first power plant, Orion, in time to meet a 2028 deadline to provide Microsoft with electricity from the grid.