Helion Energy, a Redmond-based fusion research group, had a recent breakthrough that will allow its researchers to build the world’s first commercial fusion reactor, according to Helion’s Anthony Pancotti.

Last month, Helion won the Northwest Cleantech Open region competition and will be competing in the national competition on Nov. 19 in San Jose, Calif.

The Cleantech Open is a small business accelerator focused on finding, funding and fostering the most promising cleantech startups on the planet.

Each regional finalist wins a prize package with a mix of seed investment and in-kind services worth up to $20,000. Two dozen winners from eight regions around the U.S. will convene at nationals to network with potential investors and vie for prizes as large as $200,000 in value. Since 2006, 727 startups have completed Cleantech Open programs.

Helion features a team with lengthy experience from the University of Washington and Mathematical Sciences Northwest. According to its website, Helion researchers have developed an energy device, designed from the top down to be practical using well-understood physics, and can be commercially deployable within six years.

Helion’s new approach generates fusion by accelerating two specialized plasmas into a central chamber where they are further compressed with a magnetic field, raising heat and density to levels required for fusion and energy release, the website reads. The power plant design is compact, modular and competitive in today’s market. Unlike nuclear fission, fusion is clean and neither uses nor produces dangerous materials. The machine runs on a completely safe fuel found in everyday water — a molecular variant of hydrogen.