European Union laws are putting an end to the use of SF6 switchgear. Companies in Australia are already looking for environmentally responsible alternatives to put them ahead of any local regulations that might be adopted.
For electrical systems, a colourless, odourless, non-flammable and non-toxic gas named sulphur hexafluoride, or SF6, has seemed for decades to be a godsend.
Used for its excellent insulating properties, SF6 has highly effective arc-quenching properties, allowing the medium and high-voltage switchgear – the mechanisms that control, protect and isolate electrical equipment – in which it’s used to be made smaller and more compact.
Such a remarkably effective product should be expected to be celebrated. However, it has one significant drawback: environmentally, it’s not ideal.
“For its insulating properties, it really does a great job,” said ABB Distribution Solutions Product Marketing and Business Manager Pushpender Singh.
“But if it is released into the atmosphere, which can happen when there’s a fault in the switchgear, it has extremely high global warming potential. Over 100 years, SF6 is 23,500 times more harmful than carbon dioxide.”
Aware of this hazard, many users of SF6 in developed countries try to minimise the release of SF6. Safety regulations encourage containing and degassing it, but many markets are beginning to acknowledge that these solutions are imperfect.
“Globally, utilities and governments are tightening emissions standards,” Pushpender Singh said.
“From the 1st of January this year, European Union regulations no longer permit you to install SF6 switchgear for voltages up to 12/24 kV.”
An additional ban on 36kV SF6 switchgear will come into place in 2030. And while Australia is yet to legislate limits on the use of the gas, many businesses are already searching for alternatives.
“Utilities are taking a proactive approach,” Pushpender Singh said.
“They want to use non-SF6 switchgear. They can see the benefits in the reduction of carbon emissions, and they appreciate the reputational and environmental, social and governance concerns from investors and customers who are increasingly demanding climate-conscious solutions.”
Regulation: “a matter of time”
Many companies in Australia are preparing to shift away from SF6 switchgear now in anticipation of future regulation.
“Legislation will happen; it’s a matter of time,” Pushpender Singh said.
“Companies are thinking that if they don’t do it today, they’ll have to do it tomorrow. And many of these are global companies who are responding to the EU regulations by adopting company-wide policies to eradicate SF6.
“If you stop manufacturing SF6 products in Europe, the Asia-Pacific market will think about how to move forward and optimise the design of its products so that they operate the same way and have the same look and feel.”
Business sentiments reflect this desire for consistency; ABB research shows that 83 per cent of the European companies it surveyed agreed it would be best for their organisation if any SF6 replacement was standardised.
There is a clear need for an alternative to SF6, which is why companies like ABB have developed SF6-free switchgear products. ABB’s SafeRing Air and SafePlus Air switchgear use dry air as the insulation medium and are fully compliant with the EU regulations and tested to IEC standards.
“Dry air technology uses clean, compressed air as the insulating medium instead of greenhouse gases like SF6,” Singh said.
“It is a fully SF6-free solution designed to deliver safe and reliable insulation without the environmental impact of fluorinated gases.”
And because ABB’s SF6-free versions are designed with the same interface, footprint, and operations as the original SafeRing and SafePlus switchgear, it can be installed using the same approaches used for existing equipment, without needing to retrain the workers who use it.
Same footprint, lower environmental impact
This seamless backward compatibility enables sustainable infrastructure upgrades immediately, while protecting against potential future Australian regulations.
“Previously, air-insulated switchgear worked the same, but it was much larger. Now, innovations introduced by our research team have allowed the non-SF6 equipment to be designed with the same footprint,” Pushpender Singh said.
“Our team couldn’t just remove the SF6 and replace it with natural air. They’ve modified certain parts of the gas enclosure tank, and introduced a technology called a puffer switch, which interrupts load currents in dry air.”
These features, such as the sealed-for-life design, ensure the new switchgear technology is reliable and safe to use in harsh conditions, demonstrating that environmental responsibility doesn’t mean sacrificing performance or increasing operational risk.
“And in the process of transforming its switchgear products, ABB digitalised them as well,” Pushpender Singh said.
“We’re controlling the whole of the switchgear monitoring and diagnostics. We’ve put in temperature and environmental sensors, so you can manage what’s happening and anticipate any future faults.”
Electrification is boosting demand for infrastructure, Pushpender Singh said, pointing out that many existing electrical systems are aging.
“They need to be revamped; they need to be digitalised,” he said.
“They need to be made more sustainable, so the timing is perfect. We are upgrading this infrastructure already, so why not make it sustainable for the environment as well for the next future generation?”
Visit the ABB website for more information on SF6-free switchgears.
