Substation energised using SF6 alternative

SSEN Transmission has energised a new substation in Scotland that uses an alternative to SF6 for busbar insulation.

The installation at New Deer in Aberdeenshire, which will help facilitate the connection of the 900MW Moray East offshore windfarm to the power grid, is the company’s first to use GE’s g3 gas for this purpose and represents its largest deployment anywhere in the world.

Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) is the most powerful greenhouse gas known to man, with a global warming potential 23,500 times greater than carbon dioxide. The electricity transmission industry is responsible for 80 per cent of worldwide usage and when leaked it can remain the atmosphere for more than three millennia.

GE says its g3 gas, which consists of a mixture of oxygen, carbon dioxide and a fluoronitrile developed by 3M, offers the same operational performance as SF6 whilst reducing the impact on climate change by 99 per cent.

SSEN said its deployment at New Deer will reduce the substation’s footprint by the equivalent of more than 117,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. The company said it does still use SF6 for switchgear insulation.

SSEN Transmission project manager Simon Johnstone said: “We are delighted to be marking yet another first for SSEN Transmission in the fight against climate change. Our substations are vital to enabling the connection of renewable energy to the grid. They play a key role in the race to net zero emissions.

“That is why it is important that we strive to make our new substations are as green as possible by using new technology such as GE’s g3 insulated busbars.

“By using these innovations, we are not only reducing the environmental impact on our own network, we are demonstrating to the wider energy industry that there is a viable alternative to SF6 out there, supporting government net zero targets, including the recently announced interim 78 per cent emission reduction target by 2035.”

GE’s g3 gas product manager Bertrand Portal said “We are committed to helping our customers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. To date, SSEN and 22 other leading electrical utilities in Europe and Asia have adopted GE’s g3 gas-insulated equipment, avoiding the addition of more than a million tons of CO2 equivalent to the grid.”