How does MetroVolt connect to the grid?

Like any large baseload plant — through high-voltage transmission — but with two differences: its output comes partly from direct energy conversion, and it is firm, running continuously rather than intermittently.

Output

≈ +2832 MWe firm baseload

Conversion

Direct energy conversion + thermal cycle

Role

Firm, dispatchable power

Siting

Near large continuous loads

MetroVolt is a large baseload generator, so at the plant boundary it connects to the grid the way any multi-gigawatt plant does — through step-up transformers and high-voltage transmission. Two things make it different from a conventional thermal plant.

• Direct energy conversion. Because the tandem mirror exhausts charged particles onto collector electrodes, part of its output is generated directly as electricity rather than through a steam turbine.
• Firm power. It runs continuously, providing the kind of firm, dispatchable output that data centers and cities need and that intermittent sources cannot supply on their own.

Its scale (~+2832 MWe) suits siting near the largest continuous loads — hyperscale data-center campuses and metropolitan demand centers.