Helical Fusion Signs Japan’s First Power Purchase Agreement for Fusion Energy with Aoki Super

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 8, 2025--

Helical Fusion Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; “Helical Fusion”), a company developing a commercially viable Helical Stellarator power plant under its “Helix Program”, has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Aoki Super Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Aichi, Japan; “Aoki Super”), a major regional supermarket chain in central Japan.

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This marks the first fusion-energy PPA ever signed in Japan, representing a concrete step forward in the real-world adoption of fusion energy and signaling growing demand-side engagement in the emerging fusion energy value chain.

Significance of This Agreement

Fusion energy—generated by reproducing on Earth the same nuclear fusion reactions that power the sun—is widely expected as a high-efficiency, sustainable energy source. Since the concept was proposed in the 1930s, global attention has focused primarily on the scientific and technical challenges of realizing fusion. However, for fusion to become part of real-world energy infrastructure, the presence of customers willing to procure fusion-generated electricity and to integrate it into their long-term decarbonization strategies is essential.

Under the Helix Program, Helical Fusion begins with a simple premise: fusion must function as a reliable power source. Working backward from this goal, the company defined three non-negotiable requirements—steady-state operation, net electricity, and maintainability—and selected the Helical Stellarator as the only design capable of meeting all three with existing technology. Helical Fusion’s approach is grounded in over 60 years of Japanese national fusion research, enabling the company to outline a credible technical pathway to continuous, net-electricity operation.

The newly signed PPA demonstrates that this development plan has been concretely evaluated by a real electricity consumer: Aoki Super, which requires large amounts of electricity every day to operate its store networks. Both companies share the view that fusion energy can underpin environmentally responsible retail operations that support everyday life.

The agreement is also an important milestone for the Helix Program, whose distinctive strength lies in mobilizing Japan’s entire industrial value chain—from advanced manufacturing to end-users—to accelerate the realization of fusion energy.

About Aoki Super Co., Ltd.

Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Nagoya, Aoki Super operates 50 community-based supermarkets across Aichi Prefecture, Japan. As a food retailer operating electricity-intensive stores, the company views climate change—such as shifting agricultural production regions and rising seawater temperatures affecting marine resources—as a critical challenge.

In July 2025, as part of its long-term commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship, Aoki Super made a strategic investment in Helical Fusion.

About Helical Fusion Co., Ltd.

Helical Fusion is a Japan-based fusion company developing the world’s first commercially viable, net-electricity fusion power plant, leveraging the Helical Stellarator and inheriting more than 60 years of national fusion research.

To date, Helical Fusion has raised JPY 5.2 billion (≈ USD 34 million) in equity funding, bringing its cumulative fundraising—including grants and loans—to approximately USD 38 million (≈ JPY 6.0 billion).

​​About the Helix Program

The Helix Program targets the launch of the world’s first commercially viable fusion power plant in the 2030s through its Fusion Pilot Plant, Helix KANATA. The program defines three essential requirements for commercially viable fusion power:

Steady-state operation: 24/7/365 stable performance

Net electricity output: generating more energy than it consumes

Maintainability: regular, efficient component maintenance

The Helical Stellarator is uniquely capable of meeting all three criteria with existing technologies. The Helix Program aims to be the world’s first initiative to realize all of these requirements by the 2030s.

Company Details

Conceptual rendering of Helix KANATA, Helical Fusion’s first commercial fusion power plant planned for the 2030s

Aoki Super, established in 1941 and headquartered in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, is a retail company that operates 50 food supermarkets throughout Aichi Prefecture.

Takaya Taguchi (left), CEO of Helical Fusion Co., Ltd. , and Masayuki Kono (right) Managing Director and Head of Administration Division of Aoki Super Co., Ltd. at the press conference held on December 8, 2025

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A gunman in Texas opened fire on a crowded bar in Austin's busy nightlife district over the weekend before being fatally shot by police in an attack that authorities were investigating as a potential act of terrorism.

The shooting early Sunday killed three people and wounded more than a dozen others. The suspect was wearing clothes with an Iranian flag design and the words “Property of Allah," a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

The mass shooting happened after the U.S. and Israel launched an attack on Iran. The FBI and Austin police said they were still looking into the motive behind the shooting, which sent people in the bar and surrounding streets scrambling for cover.

Here's what to know about the shooting:

Police said the gunman drove past Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden before circling back and firing the first shots from his SUV at people on the sidewalk and inside the bar early Sunday.

Some college students dove for cover while others were motionless inside the bar and across the street next to a food truck, trying to understand what was happening.

The shooting stopped for a moment. The police chief said the suspect parked, got out with a rifle and began shooting at others before officers rushed to the intersection and shot him.

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis identified two victims as 21-year-old Savitha Shan and 19-year-old Ryder Harrington. Austin Police announced Monday evening that 30-year-old Jorge Pederson had died from his injuries.

Harrington joined the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Texas Tech University in 2024, the fraternity said in an Instagram post. Shan’s LinkedIn profile listed her as a dual-degree student majoring in management information systems and economics at the University of Texas.

The bar is on Sixth Street, a nightlife destination filled with bars and music clubs near the flagship campus of the University of Texas system. The school is one of the nation's largest universities with 55,000 enrolled students.

Nathan Comeaux, a 22-year-old senior, spent the evening there with friends and said the bar was “full of college students, probably mostly UT kids, shoulder to shoulder, hundreds just enjoying their nights.”

Some of those affected included “members of our Longhorn family,” University President Jim Davis said, using the name of the school's mascot.

Police taped off several square blocks around Sixth Street after the shooting. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents and other federal investigators joined local police at the scene.

Both the FBI and police in Austin said Monday that it’s too soon to identify the motive.

Police identified the gunman as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne. The gunman legally bought the pistol and rifle he used in the attack several years ago in San Antonio, the police chief said.

Diagne was originally from Senegal, according to multiple people briefed on the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.

He first entered the U.S in 2000 on a B-2 tourist visa, becoming a lawful permanent resident six years later after marrying a U.S. citizen, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Associated Press reporters on Monday were unable to reach Diagne’s family members in the Austin area or his ex-wife, who recently was listed as living near San Antonio. A person who answered the door at a house listed for his ex-wife declined to comment and told a reporter to talk with investigators.

The entertainment district has a heavy police presence on weekends, and officers were able to confront the gunman within a minute of the first call for help, the police chief said.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson praised the fast response by police and rescuers.

“They definitely saved lives,” he said.

Comeaux, the UT Austin senior, filmed the suspect as he walked toward Buford's with his gun pointed at officers, and officers fired at him.

“The shooter was walking towards where I was and towards where the bar was, where there could have been 10 times as much damage if he’d gone back to the bar where hundreds of students were hiding,” Comeaux said. “So I’m just very grateful for the heroic police officers who were able to stop the suspect.”

McAvoy reported from Honolulu. Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; and Alanna Durkin Richer, Eric Tucker and Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed.

The Austin Police Department and the FBI investigate a shooting at Buford's on 6th Street on Sunday, March 1, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Jack Myer)