Q: What do you see as the main challenges in developing a reliable, efficient power grid to meet our nation’s future energy needs?
By John Jovalusky, field application engineer, U.S.A. Sales Team, MagnaChip
As the future trends toward fully electric powered transportation, the greatest challenge will be clean, pollution-free energy sources that can supply our needs without contributing to climate change or environmental degradation. The first and most important step in that direction is fourth generation nuclear reactor based power plants.
It is unfortunate that many see nuclear power as a failed dream that could not measure up to the high hopes that were originally expected of it. With minimal news coverage of organizations like the Generation IV International Forum (GIF)—a consortium for the development of fourth generation nuclear reactors—which began in 2001 with nine nation members, and has grown to 14 members including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the E.U., France, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S.A.—many people are unaware of the ongoing development of advanced nuclear energy. Of the 150 new reactors that are planned or on order worldwide, building start dates range from 2018 to 2026. Although these new plants will not supply all of our future energy needs, they will help reduce our dependence on fossil fuel sources and allow wind and solar technology to mature toward more cost-effective, large-scale deployability.
However, an important part of grid efficiency is also the addition of many smaller sized, distributed generation (DG) energy sources (wind, solar, and natural gas) that put their excess power back onto the grid, making it more decentralized and less prone to disruption. Small DG plants need inverters to couple their energy to the grid, and efficient inverters require state-of-the-art power semiconductor devices. Power semiconductor manufacturers are doing their part to make the grid meet future energy needs.