All around us, we’re seeing the real switch happening in energy production. Renewables have already won the fight against old-fashioned energy production. And have taken an irreversible role in our battle against climate change. So, we can proudly state that the world is really starting to make the switch.
Investments in renewables are picking up again, in solar and wind primarily. But there’s now a stronger focus on energy storage solutions, which enable renewables to be even a more viable source of energy. In Germany, for example, a provider of renewable power to the grid must also come prepared with an energy storage solution before even being considered. In marine, this same trend can be seen: Batteries are accepted as the spinning reserve to support the ship’s network.
Today, it’s no longer a question of how to produce quality electricity from renewables, but rather how to integrate renewables in the optimum way for a reliable and future-proof power system.
The key to The Switch approach for this has been our full-power converter (FPC), which has the functionality and performance to support the network. This is the reason that even European wind turbine manufacturers have selected the full-power converter for their latest designs, and similar technology is de facto in solar systems. When modern converter technology is combined with energy storage, we take renewables to the next level. In fact, a large part of the future electricity production will come through power electronics.
Our aim at The Switch is to continue to contribute to this renewables movement by advancing the world with electrical drive trains. Recently, we’ve been seeing how modern drive trains are gaining momentum in wind power as well as in the marine industry, where our aim is to offer state-of-the-art shaft generators that can also provide additional propulsion power for ships. This helps to optimize the selection of the main engine size and number of auxiliary gensets.
What’s more, even industrial applications are catching on to the benefits of advanced drive trains. By using high-speed motor technology, customers can reach higher efficiency solutions to save energy, reduce the footprint of machinery and decrease costs associated with maintenance.
Our solutions have become an essential part of Yaskawa’s growth and vision for 2025. To reach this, Yaskawa’s mid-term plan for 2016–2018 calls for us to define and take concrete steps in a proactive manner.
We are proud to have such a strong role in Yaskawa’s future to help make sure that the switch to more renewable solutions becomes a reality. Thanks to this, we’re in a key position to fulfill and exceed the market’s needs for advanced drive train solutions.
And we look forward to working closely with each and every one of our customers around the world to enable them to bring this switch on to their customers.
Wishing you all the best,
Jukka-Pekka