With the ‘Green Deal’, the European Union aims to make the EU the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. To achieve this, smart, low-emission technologies with a digitally strong, competitive and sustainable industry in Europe are needed more than ever. Research and innovation in pacemaker technologies such as power electronics are crucial catalysts in the implementation of the Green Deal.
“Investments in key technologies are essential for achieving the climate targets,” said Sabine Herlitschka, CEO of Infineon Technologies Austria AG. ”This can be achieved through research, cooperation with the best partners and innovations with real impact – as extrapolated here with a savings potential of 218 million tons of CO2. With these two projects, we are doing just that. Together, we can develop sustainable products and processes faster and make a decisive contribution to decarbonization and digitization. The results strengthen industry and Europe as a location in global competition. They bring more strategic autonomy for Europe and our society, secure supply chains and are a turbo for an energy-efficient future.”
Energy-saving chips reduce emissions
The research project “ALL2GaN” (Affordable smart GaN IC solutions for greener applications), led by Infineon Austria, brings together 45 partners from twelve countries with a total budget of around 60 million euros. The aim is to fully exploit the energy-saving potential of highly efficient power semiconductors made of the semiconductor material gallium nitride (GaN), to integrate them easily and quickly into many applications, and thus to reduce emissions.
Generating, controlling and using energy efficiently is a decisive lever for CO 2 reduction. The less energy that is wasted, the lower the emissions. Intelligent technologies and new semiconductor materials such as gallium nitride (GaN) play a key role here. They deliver more power in a small space, convert energy highly efficiently and thus minimize the CO 2 footprint in digital devices.
Variable toolbox for fast integration
Following the development of cost-efficient GaN chips at Infineon-Villach, the research team is now working on a crucial milestone: the novel GaN power semiconductors will be modular and easily embedded in many applications through the integration toolbox. The research extends from individual chip elements, high-performance GaN modules, to chip designs and novel system-on-chip approaches. The advantage: variably adaptable GaN system solutions mean faster integration into applications, energy efficiency increases, and CO 2 emissions decrease.
Telecommunications, data centers and server farms will benefit from the new, highly integrable GaN chip generation “Made in Europe”, as will e-mobility, renewable energies and highly efficient smart grid solutions. Projections show that this new GaN chip generation can reduce energy losses in applications by an average of 30 percent. This is roughly equivalent to 218 megatons of CO 2 saved worldwide.
“GaN technologies are paving the way for applications that drive decarbonization. Applications such as mobile charging, data center power supplies, residential solar inverters and onboard chargers for electric vehicles are at the tipping point,” said Adam White, Division President, Power and Sensor Systems, Infineon Technologies AG. “With the All2GaN research project, energy-saving chips made of gallium nitride can now be developed even faster and easily embedded in many applications thanks to the integration toolbox. The research project opens up enormous application potential and creates sustainable benefits.”
Green industry 5.0 with AI
In the second EU research project EU project AIMS5.0 (Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing leading to Sustainability and Industry 5.0), research is being conducted on smart AI technologies for resource-efficient manufacturing in Europe. A 53-partner strong consortium of producers, suppliers, research institutions and AI specialists from twelve countries is thus paving the way for an economical, ecologically sustainable Industry 5.0 and the European Green Deal. The project is worth 70 million euros and is led by Infineon Technologies in Munich.
AI technologies bring efficiency boost
Efficiency, i.e. doing more with less, is one of the main, economic principles and can be further improved by safe AI methods. More efficiency in processes brings lower resource consumption in manufacturing, better product quality and also robust supply chain management through intelligent networking along the value chain. In line with the Industry 5.0 approach, the skills of employees are being qualified for AI use and young students are already being introduced to the required AI skills in practice by academic partners.
The AIMS5.0 team is taking a common AI approach across industries and applications for the first time. It is about the development and production of hardware and software components and a secure AI networking platform. The results strengthen manufacturing in mechanical engineering, semiconductors, electronics as well as in the automotive industry and create resilient supply chains in Europe.
“With this project, we are providing the technologies of tomorrow. With AI research, we are supporting a modern and sustainable industry. This benefits the partners directly and subsequently many other manufacturing sectors. It strengthens the entire industry and know-how location as well as the technological sovereignty in Europe,” explained Thomas Morgenstern, Executive Director Frontend Infineon Technologies AG. “At the same time, the project also develops the AI skills of employees through training and qualification methods and improves human-machine interaction.
Research starts at the Infineon site in Villach
Both European projects were launched on May 23, 2023 at Infineon‘s Villach site. Both are co-funded by the KDT-JU (Key Digital Technologies Joint Undertaking) program of the European Union and the participating countries.
“The two Infineon projects show us very well that in many seemingly specific, individual and technical optimization processes, such as the use of new semiconductor materials for power electronics or the use of advanced AI for the management of complex supply chains, there is enormous potential for achieving sustainability goals,” said Henriette Spyra, Section Head for Innovation and Technology at the Austrian Ministry for Climate Protection. These must be uncovered and implemented. Then these pacesetting technologies can act as Tech4Green, as drivers for long-term sustainability transformations.”
“The projects make an extremely important contribution to the implementation of the KDT JU portfolio,” added Yves Gigase, Director KDT JU. ”They address the top priorities of current European policies, such as the Green Deal. They are about the development of power electronics for energy-efficient applications and European digital autonomy with the introduction of AI in the industrial value chain to increase productivity and more sustainable production. With the European Chips Act, the results of these projects will play an even more important role in many digital applications.”
At a glance: EU research project ALL2GaN
- Project: ALL2GaN – Affordable smart GaN IC solutions for greener applications
- Management: Infineon Technologies Austria AG
- Term: three years until April 2026
- Research budget: approx. 60 million euros
- Partners: 45 partners from 12 countries
At a glance: EU Research Project AIMS5.0
- Project: AIMS5.0 – Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing leading to Sustainability and Industry 5.0
- Management: Infineon Technologies AG
- Term: three years until April 2026
- Research budget: 70 million euros
- Partners: 53 partners from 12 countries
