In a significant move towards modernizing and fortifying America's power grid, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has unveiled a $42 million investment in 15 groundbreaking research and development projects spanning 11 states. This funding, part of the Unlocking Lasting Transformative Resiliency Advances by Faster Actuation of power Semiconductor Technologies (ULTRAFAST) program, aims to enhance the efficiency, reliability, and flexibility of the nation's power grid through the development of next-generation semiconductor technologies.

This strategic initiative aligns with President Biden's commitment to achieve a net-zero economy by 2050 and his broader agenda to modernize the nation's power grid. The projects will play a pivotal role in preventing unforeseen outages, improving operational efficiency, and minimizing the impacts of natural disasters and climate-change-induced extreme weather events.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm emphasized the critical nature of this investment, stating, "Modernizing our nation’s aging power grid is critical to strengthening our national and energy security, and absolutely essential to reaching President Biden’s ambitious goal of a net-zero economy by 2050."

Managed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), the projects announced today include innovations like optically isolated power-integrated building blocks, novel semiconductor switching devices, and light-controlled grid protection devices. 

Among the selected projects is NextWatt (Hoffman Estates, IL), which aims to develop an ultrawide-bandgap optical triggered device for fast protection of solid-state transformers—a technology promising to revolutionize substations and renewable energy systems.

To learn more about the selected projects and their potential impact, visit the ARPA-E website for detailed project descriptions.

Source: energy.gov