Siemens supports Spain’s Iberdrola with sustainable Clean Air switchgear
James Thorpe
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Headquartered in the Spanish city of Bilbao, Iberdrola, one of the world’s largest electric utilities and the world’s largest wind power producer, aims to become carbon neutral across Europe by 2030.
To achieve this goal, it is systematically implementing its environmentally-friendly and sustainable business model. To this end, Siemens Smart Infrastructure has been commissioned by i-DE Redes Eléctricas Inteligentes SAU, the company responsible for power distribution activities within the Iberdrola Group, to supply its sustainable medium-voltage switchgear to the northern Spanish province of Burgos. This marks the first installation of fluorine gas-free switchgear from Siemens’ climate-friendly blue portfolio at a customer site in Spain.
“With our latest blue GIS portfolio, we are supporting Iberdrola in implementing its sustainability strategy while contributing to the energy transition in Spain,” said Stephan May, CEO of the Electrification and Automation Business Unit at Siemens Smart Infrastructure. “At Siemens, we create purpose-driven technologies designed to enable our customers to achieve their business and sustainability goals.”
The Merindades substation, which supplies power to the industrial area of Villarcayo in Burgos, is equipped with fluorine gas-free Siemens NXPLUS C 24 medium-voltage switchgear. The 24 kV, 25 kA, 1250 A switchgear with Clean Air technology is part of the new climate-friendly blue GIS portfolio from Siemens Smart Infrastructure.
This innovation not only eliminates SF6 as an insulation medium, but any gas mixture based on fluorine. Instead, Siemens uses the insulation gas Clean Air, which consists exclusively of natural elements from the ambient air and has a global warming potential of less than one. NXPLUS C 24 retains the proven benefits of gas-insulated switchgear, such as simple and safe handling during operation and a compact size. In addition, the environmentally-friendly systems offer straightforward end-of-life recycling.
