Government has announced plans to grow the UK’s power electronics industry and boost its share of the £135 billion global market.
The new strategy, designed by industry professionals and academics, aims to address the main problems facing the sector in a bid to establish substantial long-term growth.
Britain is considered a world leader in several aspects of power electronics, using technology to do everything, including making hybrid cars more practical and mobile phone batteries last longer.
Business Minister, Mark Prisk, said: “The UK manufactures 3.1 per cent of all power electronics products made across the globe. We have world leading, globally recognised companies working on power electronics here in the UK, but it’s not recognised as one of our strengths, I want to make sure we change that.
The Minister continued: “With the potential to make real savings in energy usage on everyday products and reduce our carbon footprint, this is a real growth industry.
Government’s five to ten year strategy for the power electronics industry highlights the importance of developing the UK’s electricity infrastructure and making the most of the new Technology Innovation Centres, so as to bridge the gap between universities, start-up businesses and industry.
Bill Drury, Chairman of the Power Electronics Strategy Group commented: “Power electronics plays to the strengths and aspirations of the UK. It is a high-growth, high-added-value and high-value per employee technology. It demands highly skilled teams of engineers to meet the demands of the complex integration challenges this presents – a capability in which, it could be argued, the UK leads the world.
The Power Electronics Strategy Group was established to address strategic issues affecting the sector. These include: encouraging closer dialogue between government and industry, improving the skills base, promoting the industry and developing new and emerging technology.
