The electrical grid of tomorrow will require substantially more wind and solar power. Yet integrating intermittent renewable energy with energy-on-demand generation, as well as agile power T&D networks with energy storage, is “an engineering challenge”, says Dr. Steven Chu, who served as the 12th US Secretary of Energy.
“The future grid will have to deal with differences from country to country in terms of mixes of centralized vs. decentralized, and regulated vs. unregulated sources of renewable, fossil and nuclear energy.
“Cloud computing, machine learning and autonomous subsystems will become a necessary part of the management of this increasingly complex system that must remain robust and secure,” he explained.
Asked what technologies offer the greatest hope for a sustainable energy future, Mr Chu called on utilities to focus on energy sources that are inexhaustible. Notably heat pumps, photovoltaics, solar thermal and biofuels.
In his view, the industry is to developing affordable batteries that will allow for greater deployment of renewable energy sources and can also power plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles.
Siemens, conducted the interview with Prof Chu to position itself, who said the German engineering conglomerate would be one of the few companies in the world that have the opportunity to become a “complete solution provider to a cleaner energy future.”