A serious new Horizon Europe undertaking is in search of to cut back the discharge of a greenhouse gasoline with a worldwide warming potential greater than 25,000 occasions increased than CO2.
The contributors embody the College of Aberdeen’s Professor Dragan Jovcic, who brings to the desk his experience in Excessive Voltage DC (Direct Present) switchgear.
Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) has traditionally been utilized in quite a lot of purposes, from metallic smelting to filling double-glazing panels, however the electrical energy business is among the few locations the place it’s nonetheless used at the moment – because of the technical challenges in changing it.
An artificial, odourless gasoline, SF6 is used to maintain grid networks operating safely and reliably, accounting for round 80% of its international use*.
It’s used to insulate the stay electrical elements and in circuit breakers to change the move {of electrical} present on and off. Renewable know-how additionally makes use of the gasoline – for instance, switchgear for wind generators use it to stop overloads. Leaks can happen when dealing with the gasoline or on account of faulty seals within the installations the place the gasoline is used.
And because the world strikes away from carbon and in direction of electrification, the demand for elements like switchgear is anticipated to develop, probably doubling of the banked quantity of SF6 by 2030 if executed with conventional know-how.
To deal with this, new options are required within the areas the place SF6-free switchgear alternate options are usually not but accessible.
The Aberdeen HVDC (Excessive Voltage Direct Present) analysis group will be a part of 12 companions from 9 international locations in an EU undertaking MISSION, an Innovation Motion co-funded by the European Union via Horizon Europe and the UKRI Horizon Europe Assure fund, to develop and show three new SF6-free switchgear elements. One in all these demonstrators is Medium Voltage DC Circuit Breaker, which will likely be developed to industrial product with essential analysis enter from Aberdeen HVDC analysis centre.
They are going to work alongside main business gamers together with switchgear producers, grid operators, DC system builders and analysis institutes to show using know-how in excessive climates and to discover reliability and cost-effectiveness.
Professor Jovcic stated: “Modernisation {of electrical} grid infrastructure will likely be essential in our transition to scrub vitality. Electrification lies on the coronary heart of decarbonisation and we’ll want expanded electrical networks to fulfill rising electrical energy demand from business, transport and buildings.”
“However this brings different vital challenges, together with methods to get rid of using SF6 and handle vital know-how gaps like improvement of latest elements for DC grids.
“DC (direct present) electrical methods haven’t been a lot utilised since AC (alternating present) system have been most well-liked with conventional overland energy transmission and traditional electrical energy era. Nonetheless, AC energy can solely be transmitted over comparatively brief distances with subsea cables, and as we glance more and more to offshore wind or tidal know-how to fulfill rising demand, options are wanted to create high-voltage direct present (HVDC) connections and to ultimately develop an HVDC grid.
“Our analysis on the College of Aberdeen has performed an necessary function within the development of this know-how and we’re delighted to be a part of the European MISSION undertaking which seeks to allow emission-free vitality transmission in a resilient and sustainable AC and DC electrical grids. This know-how might play vital function in future Scottish vitality methods, as we work on creating electrical SF6-free infrastructure for integration of Scotwind and lots of different massive offshore wind vitality tasks
Atle Pedersen, the chief of the brand new EU undertaking and analysis supervisor at SINTEF Power, stated: “There’s a know-how hole right here that requires consideration, and it’s lucky that we’ve secured funding for analysis on this space.
“To attain the widespread electrification essential for decreasing international greenhouse gasoline emissions, we should improve our methods to effectively join and switch extra renewable vitality into the ability grid, significantly from offshore wind sources.”
