Rome says banning use of world's worst greenhouse gas favours Germany's Siemens
The EU should postpone a ban on high-voltage electrical equipment running on climate-killing gases, Italy is demanding in a simmering row over what it sees as Germany’s privileged position as supplier to the EU’s future power grid.
Switchgear, as the name suggests, comprises massive electrical switches capable of handling high voltages without sparking a fire. While they are available for residential voltages of less than 1 kilovolt (kV), they cap out at more than 230 kV, meaning they can handle cross-country power flows.
They rely on stable, arc-quenching gases to avoid sparking. The trouble is that the best one, sulphur hexafluoride, is also the world’s most potent greenhouse gas. SF6 has a global-warming effect 20,000 times that of CO2, a fact that has prompted the EU to enact a step-wise ban on its use in switchgear.
The future, Brussels says, is ‘vacuum’ – a technology developed by German front-runner Siemens Energy, which provides the ultimate electrical insulation without the need for a climate-wrecking gas. This is the only type that will be allowed in the EU from 2028.
