Alstom Grid

SPOTLIGHT ON g3: ALSTOM’S ALTERNATIVE TO SF6

Alstom g3 is the world’s first environmentally friendly alternative to SF6 for high voltage applications.

1. The context

An excellent insulator, SF6 gas is widely used in the electrical industry in high-voltage (HV) air- or gas-
insulated switchgears, circuit breakers, disconnectors, earthing switches, instrument transformers, surge
arresters, bushings, busbars and more.

However, SF6 is a greenhouse gas with an extremely significant impact on global warming. It is one of the
six gasses listed in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol designed to lower greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. In
addition, as a fluorinated gas, SF6 is also subject to various other existing regulations intended to reduce
emissions.

Until August 2014, there was no technically or economically viable alternative to SF6 that featured
equivalent switching and voltage-withstand capabilities for high voltage applications.

2. Alstom achieved a breakthrough in this domain

In August 2014, Alstom became the first company in the world to offer the electrical industry an
alternative to SF6 for high voltage applications.

Alstom g3 – green gas for grid – is an environmentally friendly, non-toxic, non-flammable, SF6-free gas
mixture that can replace SF6 for high voltage air-insulated switchgear (AIS) or gas-insulated switchgear
(GIS) applications. This gas mixture was jointly developed with 3MTM, a leader in environmentally friendly
solutions.

Alstom g3 complies with stringent switchgear specifications, including:

• Voltage withstand,
• Current interruption,
• Heat transfer,
• Use at extremely low temperatures (–25°C and -30°),
• Compatibility with switchgear materials,
• Stability versus temperature and time,
• Easy handling for filling and topping-up,
• Similar design compactness for equipment as of today.

Alstom g3 has an extremely low global warming potential (GWP); in fact, its GWP is 98% lower than the
GWP of SF6. Alstom g3 is safe to handle and has no impact on ozone depletion.

Tests were conducted on actual high voltage equipment in the Alstom technology research centre of
Villeurbanne (France), to compare the features of g3 to those of existing SF6 solutions for different types of

Alstom Grid Media Relations – April 2015 1

 Alstom Grid

applications. The revolutionary Alstom gas demonstrated performances very close to those of SF6, making
it a suitable technology for the development of a new generation of clean, high-voltage equipment from
72kv up to ultra-high voltages. g3 is part of Alstom’s Clean Grid programme.

3. Alstom has already launched equipment that uses g3

At the April 2015 Hanover Fair, Alstom presented high-voltage applications using g3 , including:

• The first application is a pilot project for a 420 kV g3-insulated busbar1. Alstom has been
awarded a contract by the United Kingdom’s National Grid Electricity Transmission PLC to trial, as
part of an innovation project, a 420 kV g3-insulated busbar for use at temperatures as low as -
25°C. The 300 meter-long line will be located in Sellindge, in the South East of United Kingdom
and will be commissioned by mid of 2016. National Grid is strongly committed to managing its
environmental impact, actively supporting initiatives to reduce SF6. By choosing this promising
technology as part of its planned network re-enforcement, National Grid demonstrates its
investment and efforts towards greener solutions for the grid.

• A 245 kV current transformer type SKF using g3. This high voltage equipment for outdoor
applications, displayed at Hanover Fair, uses g3 as insulation medium, with the capability of
reaching temperatures as low as -30°C. The current transformer protects substations by providing
accurate and reliable current measurements used for metering.

These major announcements are the first in a series of developments of a full range of g3-enabled AIS and
GIS products.

1
A gas-insulated busbar is essentially a concentric system of cylindrical enclosures and conductors, insulated with a pressurized
gas

4. Related facts & figures

SF6 is the most potent greenhouse gas ever evaluated by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change.
Source: United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

SF6 has the highest global warming potential among the six gasses targeted by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol
destined to lower greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
Source: 1997 Kyoto Protocol

SF6 has a global warming potential 23,900 times greater that of CO2 when compared over a 100-year
period.
Source: United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

SF6 has an extremely long life: its estimated atmospheric lifetime is 800 to 3200 years.
Source: A. R. Ravishankara, S. Solomon, A. A. Turnipseed, R. F. Warren; Solomon; Turnipseed; Warren (8 January 1993).
"Atmospheric Lifetimes of Long-Lived Halogenated Species", Science

Alstom Grid Media Relations – April 2015 2