Backed by one of China's largest private energy conglomerates, ENN is pursuing the hardest fuel cycle in fusion -- aneutronic proton-boron -- on a spherical torus platform.
ENN Group is one of China's largest private energy enterprises, with core businesses in natural gas distribution and clean-energy services. In 2017, the company's research arm launched a fusion program with a distinctive mandate: pursue proton-boron (p-11B) fusion on a compact spherical torus, aiming for a reactor that produces almost no neutrons, uses abundant and non-radioactive fuel, and can be commercialized at lower cost than deuterium-tritium alternatives. The program is led by a team of plasma physicists including Hua-sheng Xie, Min-sheng Liu, and Yu-min Wang, who published a detailed technology roadmap in Physics of Plasmas in 2024.1
The company's device lineage begins with EXL-50, a compact spherical torus that was upgraded to EXL-50U (completed end of 2023, first plasma January 2024). The next step is Helong-2 (the name translates loosely as 'Peaceful Dragon'), a substantially larger spherical torus whose construction is targeted for completion by end of 2027, with first plasma planned around 2030. ENN's published roadmap targets a proton-boron power-generation demonstration by 2035.3
In 2026 ENN became the first private enterprise in China -- and the second worldwide -- to join the ITER-successor International Tokamak Physics and Engineering Activities (ITPEA), signaling growing international recognition of the program's scientific output. The company's enterprise valuation has reportedly surpassed 10 billion yuan (approximately $1.4 billion), making it one of the most valuable private fusion ventures globally.4
Proton-boron fusion requires plasma temperatures roughly ten times higher than D-T, and the reaction's cross-section is far smaller at any temperature. Most of the physics community considers net-energy p-B fusion a generational challenge. ENN's H-mode result is scientifically notable, but the gap between confined p-B plasma and a burning plasma producing net electricity remains enormous. The company's deep corporate backing provides runway that few p-B ventures enjoy, yet the physics hurdles are real and have defeated prior attempts. Independent replication or peer-reviewed energy-balance data will be the next credibility threshold.5