Hitachi Energy and National Grid to eliminate SF6
Hitachi Energy partners with National Grid to eliminate SF6 from National Grid’s HV equipment.
Image for illustration purposes.
UK, London: Hitachi Energy partners with National Grid to eliminate SF6 from National Grid’s HV equipment.
Hitachi Energy partnered with one of the world’s largest investor-owned transmission and distribution utilities, National Grid, a company with ambitious plans to eliminate SF6 from its high-voltage equipment by 2050. SF6 is a major part of the National Grid network, currently comprising over 90 % of controllable emissions. The main challenge with replacing SF6 is a lack of viable alternatives.
“National Grid has identified SF6 as the next environmental challenge we need to address, which will allow us to be completely environmentally friendly,” said Ismail Patel, Project Engineer at National Grid.
SF6 is a manufactured greenhouse gas with an extremely high global warming potential (GWP). The energy sector is among the highest users of SF6, accounting for 80 % of global SF6 emissions in 2019. Due to its insulation and current interruption properties, SF6 has been used for circuit breakers and gas-insulated switchgear in high-voltage substations for decades.
Hitachi’s new brand EconiQ™ cuts SF6-related CO2 equivalent emissions by 99 %, retaining SF6’s properties while reducing equipment size, materials, and carbon footprint throughout the product life cycle.
“Reducing SF₆ is a universal challenge, but the solution is ready now and has a big impact on National Grid,” said Sam Ridsdale, Global Solutions Manager, Utilities, at Hitachi Energy
Ridsdale said National Grid uses Hitachi Energy’s EconiQ retrofill “to replace SF6 in installed equipment with the eco-efficient gas mixture to improve the environmental and life-cycle performance of the equipment.”
“Energy is more central to people’s lives than ever before. Any disruption or change can be scary,” Ridsdale says. “Hitachi Energy and National Grid collaborated first to see the opportunity and then worked together to manage the challenges. Now we have a system that can be used anywhere to help move toward more sustainable solutions.”
Source: Hitachi Energy
#EconiQ™#global warming potential#Hitachi Energy#National Grid#SF6