Is Anubal Fusion’s Artificial Sun The Answer To India’s Energy Crisis?

Despite being bestowed with an endless supply of clean energy (sunlight), we have not been able to unlock the full potential of our Sun. While we could blame it on the availability of sunlight, which varies across regions, the truth of the matter is that trapping sunlight to produce power, to this date, has proven to be less efficient than using fossil fuels like coal.

So what’s the alternative? Do we have to rely on fossil fuels until the end of time? Or we could just make our own sun, given that we know it is nuclear fusion that powers the Sun, and end our quest for free energy once and for all.

Globally, scientists have been aspiring to achieve this. However, despite years of research, the world hasn’t been able to attain this success at a commercial scale. Even China’s artificial sun, the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), could sustain a nuclear fusion reaction only for 403 seconds last year, breaking its earlier record of 101 seconds at 120 Mn degrees Celsius. 

However, we must not forget that clean energy is emerging as the most promising space globally, with new-age entrepreneurs and deep-pocketed tech investors willing to experiment in the name of the fuel of the future. 

In India, Anubal Fusion is working in this direction and envisions an India that creates an electricity surplus with nuclear fusion at play.

Notably, Anubal Fusion, founded in 2024 by Pravin Kini, claims to be the first Indian startup that is working to develop nuclear fusion technology.

Now, before we understand what drives Kini’s ambitions dream, here’s a snapshot of this professional journey so far.

Kini began his career as a medical doctor in 1988. In 2010, he became an entrepreneur, cofounding Bourn Hall Clinic, the world’s first IVF clinic, during its global expansion.

After selling his stake in Bourn Hall in 2014, Kini was bound by agreements not to enter the IVF space. He pivoted to animal genetics, founding Tropical Animal Genetics and investing in ventures like Jiva Sciences and cybersecurity startup QuNu Labs.

Now, after decades of innovation across sectors, nuclear fusion emerged as Kini’s next big opportunity. In 2024, he founded Anubal to address the world’s growing energy demands sustainably.

Anubal’s Ambitious Dream?

Speaking with Inc42, Kini said that humanity is staring at a major challenge ahead – energy requirements are going to explode in the future, and we are not prepared for it. 

“If urbanisation, space exploration, and other such developments have to continue, our energy requirements will grow at least 10 to 100 times, which requires a more efficient source of energy,” Kini said.

Kini also believes that humankind’s dependence on regular fossil fuels is going to end in the next 10-15 years. However, other forms of renewable sources of energy such as solar or geothermal will not be able to meet the country’s growing power demand. “Therefore, we will be left with two options – nuclear fission or fusion,” he said.

For context, fission is the process in which energy is created when big heavy atoms split into smaller, lighter ones, whereas fusion happens when small atoms combine into bigger ones to produce energy. 

As per the World Nuclear Association, nuclear energy currently provides about 9% of the world’s electricity from about 440 power reactors. 

In 2023, India produced 44.6 terawatt-hours of nuclear electricity, which was significantly lower than the USA, China, Russia, and France, among a few others. 

It is pertinent to note that nations across the globe are currently dependent on nuclear fission to produce nuclear energy with radioactive elements like Uranium, which also makes the entire process highly risky.

The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident and the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster, triggered by a natural calamity, serve as stark reminders of the catastrophic risks associated with nuclear fission. In contrast, fusion offers a cleaner, safer alternative. 

Moving on, although developing nuclear fusion energy was so far restricted to the public sector, it has now started changing, creating a promising future for the likes of Anubal. 

Pioneering as a private player in the field, Anubal plans to use a laser to bring two hydrogen atoms together to create fusion.

Not to mention, Anubal is on a road that is not only capital-intensive but also requires a significant amount of support from the government and tech giants.

To kickstart its initial experiments in partnership with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), the startup recently raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round from Speciale Invest.

“The petawatt laser we require to develop this technology typically costs around INR 1,000 Cr-INR 1,500 Cr, which the government has already spent money on. Most fusion companies worldwide take investments close to about a billion dollars or above in the pre-Series A rounds. But in India, we cannot take that kind of capital. So, we are looking at options, and using our relationship with the governments to make sure this technology works,” Kini said.

Anubal’s Road To Commercialisation 

Currently, Anubal is working on ensuring that all the required agreements are in place, which will be followed by starting simulations and, then, the real experiments will begin.

Kini said that a week to 10 days of experimenting with this technology costs about INR 4 Cr-INR 5 Cr in India. With such a heavy capex, the next steps require proper planning and simulations.

The founder expects the simulation phase alone to take roughly about one to two years. Anubal will be carrying out these simulations at the Department Of Atomic Energy and a few private-sector computer farms, given the startup requires supercomputers.

Once the simulations get accepted, receive good peer review, and are approved by other scientists, Anubal will get into the experiment phase, which again is expected to take two years or more for completion. Once these experiments pass the tests, the startup will then make its way to commercialisation. 

“It would be anywhere between 5 to 10 years to get into the commercialisation phase,” Kini said, adding that people in the private sector have been working on this for the last 2-3 decades but have yet to achieve any commercial success

Where Is Anubal Headed?

As of now, Anubal is fully funded for the simulation phase. However, once the experimental stage begins, it would require at least INR 1,000 Cr of fresh funding. Also, once the technology is validated, Kini believes building a commercial reactor will be relatively straightforward.

While the challenges are aplenty, and even more when it comes to making nuclear fusion commercially viable, the startup is betting on two aspects – the scientific validation of the technology and the increasing push for green energy.

Meanwhile, the development of this tech is moving extremely fast worldwide, so any breakthrough might take place in the next few years of its simulation phase. Whether the breakthrough happens in India or abroad, the developments will only accelerate Anubal’s way to commercialisation.

Now, as the global race for fusion heats up, Anubal’s progress will be closely watched. Focussed on its ambitious plans to revolutionise India’s energy landscape with clean, fusion-powered energy, Anubal Energy could perhaps give India its very own artificial sun.  

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]

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