As the energy sector looks ahead, it is faced with an array of problems needing solutions.
Entergy, Microsoft, DOE: Power generation sees possibilities in nuclear
Deanna Rodriguez, president and CEO of Entergy New Orleans
One is making the determination of how the world’s energy production needs will be met as a society and those needs continually grow. Nuclear power generation has become a popular response in meeting future sustainability needs; however, it comes with challenges.
Those challenges directly influence the direction taken in providing a robust power grid for the growing population. In addition to cost and affordability, power generation entities must continue to service their clientele while trying to make upgrades and changes. While the job is difficult, it must be done under serious demands of the users themselves.
"Our customers know two things," said Deanna Rodriguez, president and CEO of Entergy New Orleans, at the POWERGEN International Exhibit in New Orleans. "They know when the power is on, and they know when the power is off."
Entergy, Microsoft, DOE: Power generation sees possibilities in nuclear
Bradford Crabtree, assistant secretary for DOE Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
According to Rodriguez, New Orleans possesses a different dynamic making it challenging to service. Achieving a high level of resilience is often difficult when plagued with affordability issues, as well as frequent natural disasters. This includes hurricanes, tornadoes and flooding.
After recovering from Hurricane Ida’s destruction in 2021, Rodriguez indicated Entergy New Orleans’ need for a resiliency plan to ensure the company could meet power needs under all conditions. She said communication proves crucial in devising a plan that concentrates on resilience while reducing costs and reducing the carbon footprint.
"It is expensive and requires communication," Rodriguez said. "Cost is a key factor."
Rodriguez’s call for communication provides the avenue for analyzing how others in the same network have met their own challenges. As Entergy New Orleans studied Florida Power and Light’s response in shoring up resilience, other companies seek to network and communicate with peers to develop those needed responses to grid issues.
According to Todd Noe, director of Nuclear Technologies Engineering at Microsoft, the company is focused on empowering every person and organization the ability to achieve more with data centers. Like Entergy New Orleans, Microsoft must meet its customers’ needs under revolving conditions.
"Microsoft has over 300 data centers worldwide and more than 175 thousand miles of pulled fiber," Noe said.
Noe points to specific characteristics of energy that Microsoft has come to identify. There are consumers, collaborators and innovators. While Microsoft consumes energy itself, it concentrates on being a collaborator and innovator as it has committed itself to being carbon negative, water positive and a zero generator of waste by 2030. To achieve its resilience and sustainability goals, Microsoft sees nuclear energy as the best path forward in providing carbon-free power to meet its needs.
Understanding the need for collaboration, Microsoft seeks to partner with power generating companies. It is actively a player in power purchasing and establishing technology partnerships. Noe pointed to policy advocacy as a way that Microsoft is attempting to make nuclear power a viable option.
"Microsoft is accelerating the advanced nuclear industry," Noe said. "I personally am proud to be a part of the decarbonization effort."
While fossil fuels remain under scrutiny, clean energy solutions continue to earn more support. As companies like Microsoft attempt to influence policy in positive ways, the DOE is supporting the advancement of carbon management within the power sector.
"Federal policy is aligned with technology," said Bradford Crabtree, assistant secretary for DOE Fossil Energy and Carbon Management.
Citing the Biden Administration’s goal of zero emissions from the power sector by 2035, Crabtree identified the expansions made in the renewable energy industry as the best path forward in achieving zero-emission goals.
"Nuclear energy will play a large part in the future of power," Crabtree said.
