| Transmission & distribution
Hitachi Energy’s roadmap for eliminating SF6
Hitachi Energy sees elimination of sulphur hexafluoride from its HV equipment offerings, and extending its EconiQ™ portfolio to ever higher voltages and more demanding applications, eg metal enclosed switchgear, as key to its sustainability strategy
Recent months have seen Hitachi Energy (formerly Hitachi ABB Power Grids) announce several new projects involving its EconiQ™ portfolio of SF6
-free high voltage equipment.
Notably, the company has signed what it calls a “frame agreement” with Norway’s major distribution grid company, BKK Nett, to install EconiQ™ 145 kV live tank breakers (LTA) in more than ten substations in western Norway. For Hitachi Energy, “this is the very first frame agreement globally for its EconiQ™ eco-efficient breaker technology.”
Norway plans to cut at least 50% of its greenhouse gases by 2030 with the target of achieving carbon-neutrality by 2050. The first project in the Hitachi Energy frame agreement is the Askøy substation, located on an island west of the city of Bergen. BKK Nett is rebuilding the substation to meet growing electricity demand from businesses and households.
“This frame agreement with BKK Nett marks an important milestone as the very first for the new EconiQ™ breaker technology”, said Markus Heimbach, managing director of the high voltage products business at Hitachi Energy. “With such an eco-efficient technology, we are able to build future-proof substations with lower environmental impact”, said Atle Isaksen, head of grid development at BKK Nett. The new EconiQ™ LTA 145 kV breaker uses a mixture of carbon dioxide and oxygen as the insulation gas instead of sulphur hexafluoride,
EconiQ switchgear portfolio EconiQTM
Live tank breaker (LTB)
Dead tank breaker (DTB)
Plug and Switch System hybrid switchgear (PASS)
Gas-insulated switchgear (GIS)
Above: Hitachi Energy EconiQ™ roadmap: SF6
72.5 kV 145 kV
420 kV switchgear portfolio Above: EconiQ™ 145 kV SF6 -free gas insulated switchgear (image: Hitachi Energy)
a greenhouse gas that has been the norm for decades due to its superior insulation and switching properties. The EconiQ™ high voltage portfolio essentially eliminates the CO2
-equivalent emissions associated with the insulation gas and has been proven to significantly reduce the carbon footprint
throughout the total lifecycle, says Hitachi Energy.
Meanwhile, in Scotland, Hitachi Energy is supplying SP Energy Networks with EconiQ™ gas-insulated lines (GIL).
Like Norway, Scotland has ambitious goals to decarbonise its energy system, and aims to
Available 72.5 kV 145 kV
2021
2022
2023 420 kV
2024 and beyond 245 kV
72.5 kV 145 kV
72.5 kV 145 kV
362 kV
245 kV
245 kV
550 kV
245 kV -free switchgear and breaker portfolio for 2021 and beyond (source: Hitachi Energy)
www.modernpowersystems.com | November/December 2021 | 51
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