LITHUANIA - Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius (ESO), part of the state-owned Ignitis Group will start using power transformers with environmentally-friendly insulating oil.

ESO distributes electricity and gas, maintains distribution networks and implements smart grid solutions, serving 1.6 million customers throughout Lithuania. The company operates more than 125,000 km (77,671 miles) of overhead and underground electric power lines.

In a recent media release, ESO announced that it will use environmentally friendly oil for its transformer fleet. Transformers are increasingly using a different composition of oil with different engineering or environmental properties.

Vegetable-based oil is biodegradable and reduces the harmful impact on the environment even in the event of a breakdown. This means that in the event of an oil spill, there is no harm to the environment and the cost of dealing with the accident is lower.

One of the vital features that prompted ESO to make this move is that biodegradable oil ensures a higher level of fire safety. "Transformers with non-combustible oil are less noisy, require less space to install, have a simpler and cheaper cooling system than transformers with solid insulation," ESO said in a press release.

Also, power transformers filled with this oil can be operated for a longer period of time than filled with standard mineral oil and withstand greater loads without compromising the insulation of the device.

Source: Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius (ESO)