With upcoming renewable energy sources and the fast increase of electric vehicles, the medium voltage grid in Germany is facing more and more load and thus must be expanded in the near future. In this context, switchgear, being a central element for energy distribution and grid protection are playing a vital role. Due to the long life span of switchgears high requirements are placed on their reliability s. So far, the design of these devices can be considered conservative and functional. Aspects concerning sustainability have not been focused on, except for the replacement of SF6 gases.
The aim of the joint project GreEnerTech, under the lead of the energy and automation technology group ABB, is to rethink the medium voltage switchgear and to improve its sustainability. To this end and amongst others, better and more environmentally friendly materials have to be found, design and constructions must be improved and the overall use of resources has to be reduced. The project will focus special attention on integrating knowledge for design and material selection, as well as scientific methods in the field of sustainability research. This approach will be combined with a digital optimization platform to manage and evaluate the gained results and data in one common framework for all research partners. Thereby, the collaboration between industry, research and grid operators shall be improved to ensure a better infrastructure for the German medium voltage grid.
In the project, the researchers of the Wuppertal Institute create design scenarios for adapted sustainable product-service systems. On this basis, they establish an evaluation model and conduct sustainability and resource efficiency assessments.
The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) as part of the 7th Energy Research Programme.
