BOSTON, MA, USA AND PARIS, FRANCE -- The development of the new eco-friendly circuit-breaker will play a crucial role in reducing the US's dependence on SF₆ technology in their electrical grid.

GE (NYSE-GE) have recently announced that they have been awarded a total of US $3.7 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) for two related projects to help accelerate the decarbonization of the U.S. electrical grid.

The awarded money is supposed to fund two separate projects. The first, in the amount of $2.3 million, for the development of a sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆)-free circuit-breaker, while the second sum, in the amount $1.4 million, is part of a $2.7 million project led by the University of Connecticut which would focus on life cycle management issues of eco-friendly transformers, mainly gas leakages and by-product detection, capture and monitoring tools.

The new circuit-breaker will use GE's new insulating and switching technology, which has a global warming potential that is 99% less compared with SF₆  technology, while delivering the same high performance.

"SF₆ is a significantly more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and can remain in the atmosphere for up to 3,200 years. ARPA-E anticipates that any technology developed to replace SF₆ could have a significant and widespread global impact as countries look to reduce, regulate, or eliminate SF₆ emissions from their electrical grids," said Dr. Isik Kizilyalli, ARPA-E Associate Director for Technology.

"We are honored that ARPA-E recognizes the importance of GE's technology. This funding will help demonstrate the applicability of our new technology for the commonly used 245 kV voltage level used by transmission operators in the U.S.," said Danielle Merfeld, Chief Technology Officer at GE Renewable Energy.

Source: GE