Team - Life SF6 - Free HV breaker

Join the team

Our project manager

Joel Ozil

Circuit Breaker & GIS development manager, Grid Solutions

Joël Ozil is the Head of the Circuit Breaker and GIS Research Department of the High Voltage Switchgear Research Center – in Villeurbanne (France) at Grid Solutions, a GE Vernova business.
After four years as a power electronic engineer in railway industry, he joined Alstom Grid in 1995 as High Voltage circuit breaker engineer. He held several positions as project manager of Generator Circuit Breaker development and more recently he was the Dead Tank Circuit Breaker R&D Director of Grid Solutions.
Joël is Expert Fellow in the field of high voltage circuit breaker & GIS developments and contributor in several scientist publications (CIGRE …). Co-authoring several patents applied to industrial products.
In the present position, Joel manages the research team in charge of the SF₆-free technologies & high voltage SF₆-free product development.
Joël Ozil obtained his engineering degree from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Ingénieurs Electriciens de Grenoble- INPG (France) in 1990.

Meet our team

Our team comprises dedicated experts who are passionate about advancing sustainable and innovative solutions in the field of high-voltage technology. Each member brings a wealth of experience and expertise, contributing to the successful development and implementation of cutting-edge projects like the LIFE SF₆-Free HV Breaker.

Expert Fellow in Digital Simulation – Objective 1
Philippe Robin-Jouan serves as our Expert Fellow in Digital Simulation, tasked with developing a multi-physics macroscopic numerical model. Collaborating with the University of Greifswald and the INP Institute (Das Leibniz-Institut für Plasmaforschung und Technologie e. V.) in Germany, his model assists in identifying the properties and behaviors of g³ and CO₂-O₂ gas mixtures. This database is instrumental in optimizing the design of various components of the interrupter.

Electrical Component Engineering Team – Objectives 1 and 2
Antonin Bobeau and Thibault Grillet are our R&D experts focused on optimizing the design of the 420 kV CO₂-O₂ circuit breaker, particularly the permanent contact and nozzle, which are crucial components of the interrupter at the core of the circuit breaker. Upon finalizing the new interrupter design (Objective 1), they validate the entire concept by designing a 420 kV circuit breaker demonstrator, featuring two interrupters positioned atop two insulators in a T-shape configuration.

Eco-Design Leader – Objective 2
Titouan Pissardgibollet, our Eco-Design Team expert, is responsible for the environmental evaluation of our new product. He will conduct a life-cycle assessment to certify that the new circuit breaker has a superior carbon footprint compared to an SF₆ circuit breaker.

Marketing and Communication Team – Objective 3
Bertrand Portal, Marketing and SF₆-free Products Leader, Olivier Grejon, Live Tank Circuit Breaker Marketing Leader, and Véronique Chauvot, MarCom Leader, form the team responsible for market assessment, impact analysis, dissemination, and communication. Olivier leads the working group activities with the TSOs, enabling them to observe the progress of our LIFE SF₆-Free Breaker project as part of Objective 3. Since the project’s inception, seven transmission system operators have joined us, with one set to become the first to install our new 420 kV SF₆-free live tank circuit breaker, the GL316c.