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One of the components of an electrical substation is the circuit breaker. For more than 60 years, SF₆ (sulphur hexafluoride) has been in use to extinguish the electrical arc that occurs during the circuit breaker’s switching because this gas has excellent insulating and dielectric properties.
With the accelerating climate change, decarbonizing the electrical grid is a key challenge for the electrical industry. GE Vernova is developing SF₆-free equipment to help grid operators achieve their carbon neutrality goals.
SF₆ is listed at the top of the Kyoto Protocol as one of the gases with a very high global warming potential (GWP). Indeed, SF₆’s GWP is 24,300 higher than that of CO₂, and, if released, it remains in the atmosphere for more than 1000 years.
As part of its target to reduce the EU’s carbon footprint by 65% before 2035, the EU Commission first encouraged the industry to find ways to look for alternatives to SF₆ for use in electrical equipment. Today, alternatives exist, and the EU Commission supports the move.
GE Vernova’s Grid Solutions business is developing a High-Voltage Live Tank Circuit Breaker (LTCB) at 420 kilovolts (kV) and 50 kiloamperes (kA) that will use a CO2-O2 gas mixture instead of SF₆. The CO2-O2 LTCB will feature the same ratings and same dimensional footprint as the state-of-the-art SF₆ LTCB, but with a greatly reduced global-warming impact: more than 99% less gas GWP, comparatively.
Our LIFE SF₆-free HV BREAKER project benefits from the financial support of the EU Commission’s LIFE Programme for the environment and climate action.
Validate the technical viability of the combination of a CO2-O2 gas mixture and the improved 420 kV/50 kA High-Voltage Live Tank Circuit Breaker design for temperature down to -50°C.
Set up a pilot 420 kV/50 kA Circuit Breaker at GE Vernova’s Grid Solutions premises in Villeurbanne (France) to meet the needs of transmission system operators (TSOs) for LTCB, as required before any on-site installation on an HV transmission network.
Identify a real project at a TSO substation to implement the new 420 kV/50 kA SF₆-free circuit breaker on its transmission network.
Ensure replicability: Construct the interrupting chamber of the circuit breaker in such a way that it can be easily downscaled to the 245 kV and 170 kV/50 kA voltage levels of the grid.
