内容来源：https://www.geekwire.com/2026/with-a-headcount-topping-800-helion-opens-seattle-office-in-pursuit-of-fusion-energy/

内容总结：

美国聚变能源公司Helion Energy正加速推进其商用聚变发电计划。该公司近日在西雅图市中心开设新办公室，员工总数已增至800人。Helion总部位于华盛顿州埃弗里特，在当地已占用五栋办公楼，并在该州中部马拉加镇建设其寄望成为全球首座商用聚变发电厂的设施。

公司首席执行官兼联合创始人戴维·柯特利在受访时感慨：“2013年创立时我们只有5个人，谁能想到今天的发展规模。”今年6月，Helion宣布完成4.65亿美元新一轮融资，使其累计融资额超过15亿美元，估值达这一数字的10倍。

聚变能通过撞击轻原子产生能量，本质上是复制太阳和恒星的发电过程。尽管研究机构和私营企业已取得显著进展，但迄今无人能在地球上实现商业可行的聚变产能。随着数据中心耗电激增，交通、建筑和工业流程加速电气化，全球对充足清洁电力的需求日益迫切，这也推高了业界对聚变技术的兴趣。据聚变工业协会数据，自2021年以来全球聚变领域已融资142.4亿美元，多家公司预测未来5至10年内将实现充足产能，而Helion目标最为激进——计划两年内达成。

Helion在太平洋西北地区初创企业排名指数GeekWire 200中位居首位。其新办公室位于西雅图第八大道与橄榄街交汇处大楼，面积约1452平方米，前租户为爱彼迎。此举正值西雅图推动商业回流市中心——据Kidder Mathews研究，今年第二季度该市城区写字楼空置率达28.2%，其中市中心高达34.9%。柯特利表示，公司正扩大招聘，目标是让100名员工在市中心从事商务运营、招聘和财务工作。

与此同时，埃弗里特团队正对其原型聚变装置“北极星”进行测试，并推进小型聚变机“微型合并”上线。公司还在扩建一座组装工厂，员工和自动化系统将在此制造储能电容器、半导体模块及其他硬件，目前该厂已产出首批测试部件。马拉加场址将建设“猎户座”设施，包含三栋建筑：办公楼已完工投用；用于最终组装来自埃弗里特的部件的厂房也已竣工；发电机大楼则将容纳50兆瓦“猎户座”发电机及相关电力设备。柯特利透露，最后一栋大楼的钢梁已架起，目标是在冬季前实现“防风防雨封闭”。

Helion正全力推进“猎户座”项目并提升制造能力，同时持续攻克聚变产能的物理难题。该电厂必须在两年内投入运营，以满足Helion与微软签订的为附近数据中心供电的合同要求。

中文翻译：

Helion Energy公司在全力追求聚变能源的过程中，已在西雅图市中心开设了一间办公室，目前员工人数已增至800人。

该公司已在华盛顿州埃弗雷特总部所在地占据五栋大楼，此外还在华盛顿州中部城镇马拉加开展业务——Helion正在那里建设它寄望成为全球首座商业聚变发电厂的设施。

“2013年我们创办公司时只有五个人，谁能想到会有今天，”首席执行官兼联合创始人大卫·柯特利在接受GeekWire采访时表示，对公司的成长感慨不已。

今年6月，Helion宣布获得4.65亿美元的新融资，使其累计募集资金超过15亿美元，估值达到该数字的十倍。

该公司正全力攻克聚变技术——聚变通过碰撞轻原子来产生能量，本质上是对太阳和恒星供能过程的复刻。迄今尚未有人能在地球上通过聚变产生商业可行规模的能量，尽管研究机构和私营企业正在取得显著进展。

随着数据中心大量消耗能源，交通运输、建筑和工业流程也在向电气化转型，全球对丰富、清洁电力的需求日益迫切。

这推动了人们对聚变技术的兴趣升温。据聚变工业协会统计，自2021年以来，该领域全球已筹集142.4亿美元资金，多家公司预计将在未来五到十年内成功产生足够的能量。Helion是目标最雄心勃勃的公司之一，力争在两年内达成这一里程碑。

该公司在GeekWire 200排行榜上位列第一——该榜单是太平洋西北地区顶尖初创企业的排名指数。

Helion的西雅图办公室位于8th + Olive大楼内，面积为15,631平方英尺，该空间此前由Airbnb使用。此次进驻正值西雅图推动企业回归市中心之际：根据Kidder Mathews的研究数据，今年第二季度该市城区写字楼空置率为28.2%，仅市中心就高达34.9%。

柯特利表示，公司正在招聘，目标是在市中心拥有100名员工，从事业务运营、招聘和财务工作。

回到埃弗雷特，团队正在公司名为Polaris的聚变原型装置上进行测试，并努力让一台名为Tiny Merge的小型聚变机器投入运行。这家初创公司还在扩建一座组装工厂，员工和自动化系统将在那里制造储能电容器、半导体模块及其他硬件。该工厂目前正在生产初始测试件。

马拉加基地将作为Orion设施的所在地，共包括三栋建筑：一栋办公楼已完工并投入使用；一栋用于对从埃弗雷特运来的组件进行最终组装的厂房也已完工；还有一栋发电机厂房，将容纳50兆瓦的Orion发电机及相关电力电子设备。柯特利表示，目前最后一栋建筑的钢梁已经立起，目标是在冬季前实现“封闭防风”。

Helion正全力推进Orion项目并建设制造能力，同时继续攻克从聚变中产生能量所面临的物理难题。

该电厂必须在两年内投产运营，以满足Helion与微软签订的为附近数据中心供电的合同要求。

英文来源：

Helion Energy, in its hard-charging pursuit of fusion energy, has opened an office in downtown Seattle as its headcount swells to 800 employees.
The company already occupies five buildings in Everett, Wash., where it’s headquartered, plus operations in the central Washington town of Malaga, where Helion is building what it hopes could be the world’s first commercial fusion plant.
“Who would have thought it when we founded the company in 2013 with only five of us,” said CEO and co-founder David Kirtley in a GeekWire interview, marveling at the growth.
In June, Helion announced $465 million in new funding, bringing its total capital raised to more than $1.5 billion and its valuation to 10 times that figure.
The company is racing to master fusion, which produces energy by smashing together light atoms — essentially replicating the process that powers the sun and stars. No one has been able to create a commercially viable amount of energy from fusion here on Earth, though notable progress is being made by research institutions and private companies.
The planet is increasingly hungry for abundant, clean power as data centers gobble energy and transportation, buildings and industrial processes shift toward electrification.
That has helped spike interest in fusion, and the sector globally has raised $14.24 billion since 2021, according to the Fusion Industry Association, with multiple companies predicting they’ll succeed in producing sufficient energy in the next five to 10 years. Helion has one of the most ambitious targets, aiming to reach that mark in two years.
The company is No. 1 on the GeekWire 200, a ranked index of the Pacific Northwest’s top startups.
The company’s Seattle office is 15,631 square feet in the 8th + Olive building, in a space formerly occupied by Airbnb. The move comes as Seattle pushes to bring businesses back into its core: The city’s urban neighborhoods had an office vacancy rate of 28.2% in the second quarter of this year, with downtown alone at 34.9%, according to Kidder Mathews research.
Kirtley said they’re hiring and the goal is to have 100 employees downtown working on business and operations, recruiting and finance.
Back in Everett, teams are running tests on the company’s prototype fusion device, named Polaris, and working to get a smaller fusion machine called Tiny Merge online. The startup is also ramping up a facility for assembly work where employees and automated systems will manufacture energy-carrying capacitors, semiconductor modules and other hardware. The facility is currently producing initial test pieces.
The Malaga site will be home to the Orion facility and will include three buildings: an office building, already complete and in use; a building for final assembly of components shipped from Everett, also finished; and the generator building, which will house the 50-megawatt Orion generator and associated power electronics. So far the beams are up for the last building, with the goal of getting it “weather tight” before winter, Kirtley said.
Helion is charging ahead with Orion and building its manufacturing capabilities while continuing to tackle the physics challenges of producing energy from fusion.
The plant must be operational in two years to meet Helion’s contract with Microsoft to provide energy for a nearby data center.