ENN Group broke ground on Helong-2, a spherical-torus hydrogen-boron fusion platform, in Hebei's Langfang Economic and Technological Development Zone on September 15, 2026, with equipment installation and commissioning slated for completion by end-2027. It is the third-generation fusion device from China's most commercially advanced private fusion program and part of a public three-step roadmap that ends with a demonstration reactor before 2035.
Why Hydrogen-Boron
Where most of the fusion industry chases deuterium-tritium reactions inside tokamaks and stellarators, ENN is chasing the harder-to-ignite proton–boron-11 reaction. Its advantage is that the fusion products are helium nuclei rather than high-energy neutrons, which massively simplifies shielding, structural materials and the tritium supply chain — but requires plasma temperatures roughly ten times higher than D-T. ENN's bet is that its spherical-torus geometry can bridge that gap.
The Three-Step Plan
ENN Fusion has laid out an explicit commercial roadmap: achieve hydrogen-boron fusion reactions on the smaller Xuanlong-50U device this year; complete Helong-2 construction and generate first electricity between 2027 and 2030; and develop a low-cost commercial reactor before 2035. The Langfang site covers roughly 120 acres and will be, once complete, one of the largest privately funded fusion facilities in the world.
The Bigger Picture
ENN's push comes as China's private fusion sector is boiling over — first-half 2026 saw a 233x jump in fusion financing deals, with ENN Fusion itself valued above 10.6 billion yuan. On the same day nT-Tao signed a deployment MoU with Orion Nuclear and Proxima Fusion committed €140M to European HTS-tape production, the fusion supply chain is bifurcating along US-EU-China lines.
Yu Jianchao Quote
"Helong-2, as the third-generation fusion device built by ENN, is a key engineering platform for moving towards a fusion smart power plant," said ENN Group Chairman Yu Jianchao. If the schedule holds, ENN would beat several better-funded Western competitors to a demonstration-scale aneutronic reactor.
Reporting based on coverage from World Nuclear News, The Cool Down and 36Kr.