Schneider Electric has received a grant from the European Union’s LIFE Program to demonstrate the robustness and technical feasibility of SF6-free medium-voltage switchgear. Created in 1992, the LIFE program is the EU’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action.
Working in close coordination with and reporting its findings to the EU LIFE Program, Schneider Electric continues innovating sustainable, digital technologies for a more low-carbon and energy-efficient future.
Schneider Electric is the only electrical equipment manufacturer to receive such funding for medium-voltage applications, which it will complement with its own substantial financial contribution to the project.
In addition to the project’s chief goal of demonstrating the operational and environmental legitimacy of sustainable medium voltage equipment in the electrical distribution networks of the future, the EU’s SF6-free capacity-building project with Schneider Electric is designed to raise awareness and give public bodies the proof-of-concept of alternatives to SF6-gas that are demonstrably safe, reliable, and climate-friendly.
The award follows on the heels of Schneider’s announcement in June at CIRED 2019 (the International Conference and Exhibition on Electricity Distribution), where the company unveiled its medium-voltage switchgear of the future. Designed for applications in primary and secondary electrical distribution, these new switching technologies use pure air instead of SF6 gas. The company demonstrated their innovative shunt vacuum interruption technology associated with pure air insulation, the combination of which enables the elimination of the SF6 greenhouse gas while maintaining the small footprint and cost-effectiveness of traditional SF6-based equipment.
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