RTE taps GE Vernova for 245kV SF6-free GIS
The B105 245 kilovolts SF6-free g3 gas insulated substation was launched at CIGRE. Image courtesy GE Vernova.
US-based tech company GE Vernova has announced that their Grid Solutions business will manufacture, deliver and commission a 245kV SF6-free gas-insulated substation (GIS) for RTE in France.
According to the company in a release, this will be the world’s first 245kV SF6-free substation.
Grid Solutions will deploy its advanced B105 SF6-free GIS, a solution that will support RTE in replacing sulfur hexafluoride, SF6—a gas with a global warming potential 24,300 times greater than CO2—with its g3 alternative.
According to GE Vernova, g3 allows for about 99% reduction in CO2 equivalent of the gas contribution to global warming compared to SF6.
The pilot project is part of RTE’s objective to reduce the carbon footprint of transmission infrastructure by using alternatives to SF6. One 245kV SF6-free B105 GIS, says GE Vernova, will prevent the addition of approximately 20,000 tons of CO2 equivalent to its high-voltage grid.
The gas-insulated substation will also include Grid Solutions’ SF6-free F35g 145kV.
Have you read:
GE Vernova to supply high voltage tech for 134 Algerian substations
GE Vernova collaborates with SWI on advanced substation monitoring tech
The 245 kV B105 Dual Gas GIS is co-funded by the EU’s LIFE Program, the European Union’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action.
The 245kV B105 Dual Gas GIS is a result of Grid Solutions’ research funded by the LIFE21 project named LIFE SF6-free GIS. This three-and-a-half-year research project aimed to develop a 245kV substation that is SF6-free and compatible with both SF6 and g3 gas.
The substation can support networks up to 245kV for onshore and offshore power generation and transmission, as well as energy-intensive industry applications.
GE Vernova’s Grid Solutions business launched the B105g GIS as part of its new GRiDEA decarbonization product portfolio launched at the CIGRE 2024 conference at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.
Its g3 technology serves as an alternative to sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), an insulating and switching gas that has been the industry standard used for decades in high-voltage substation equipment.
Identified as a very potent greenhouse gas by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, SF6 contributes 24,300 times more emissions than CO2 if leaked and can remain in the atmosphere for up to 1,000 years.
Commenting on the ground-breaking development, Khalid Abdallaoui, Executive Director in Charge of Asset Management and Investment Program at RTE, said in a release:
“The needs of the French electricity network are significant in the coming years. The decarbonisation challenges are substantial and RTE is working with all manufacturers to promote and implement technologies that will make it possible to achieve Net Zero by 2050.
“In 2023 we anticipated the availability of a 245kV SF6-free GIS in the near future. Today, we are keen to be the ones that might install the world’s first 245kV SF6-free substation, the B105g GIS, on our high voltage grid.”
Added Vera Silva, CTO of GE Vernova Electrification: “RTE’s 245kV SF6-free GIS substation project is proof of the market’s acceptance of our SF6-free technology as a game-changing alternative.
“With the launch of our B105g GIS, we are only one step away from completing our SF6-free GIS range allowing transmission system operators in Europe and elsewhere to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of their substations by replacing SF6 with g3 gas mixture as soon as they feel ready to proceed.
“The SF6-free GIS range up to 420kV is expected to be completed in 2026 with the 170kV F35 Dual Gas GIS.”
The 245kV B105 Dual Gas substation project is one of several substation projects by RTE implementing SF6-free products (from 145kV to 400kV).
Over the past years, after the successful implementation of its Grimaud substation, the French TSO has ordered the construction of multiple F35g 145 kV g3-gas insulated substations, T155g 420kV GIS, and GL312g 145kV live tank circuit-breakers for its air-insulated substations.
Both the development and manufacturing of these SF6-free products will take place in France.
