Zap Energy

Century is the centerpiece of Zap Energy's program developing and integrating power handling systems suitable for future power plants. Three primary technologies under development include high average-power repetitive pulsed power, high duty-cycle cathodes, and liquid metal wall systems. Century is capable of firing non-reacting hydrogen SFS Z-pinch plasmas into a liquid metal-lined container at sustained repetition rates on the order of 0.2 Hz. Century is based on FuZE device designs but is not operated with deuterium fuel gas in order to alleviate the need for radiation shielding from fusion byproducts. The pulsed power driver and liquid metal heat exchanger are both designed to sustain input powers of 100 kW.

The Fusion Z-pinch Experiment 3 (FuZE-3) investigates compression methods for a sheared-flow-stabilized Z pinch. The device leverages multiple electrodes to inject magnetic flux around the pinch, thereby increasing the pinch current and decreasing pinch radius. FuZE-3 was commissioned at Zap Energy in 2025, demonstrating >1 GPa plasma pressures including multiple repeated shots with electron densities in the range of 3-5x10^24 m-3 and electron temperatures above 1 keV in early science campaigns.