I’m deeply concerned that it has taken National Grid (LON: NG) et al so long to bring in possibly the world’s leading expert in how to handle elimination of the planet’s most pernicious greenhouse gas from the UK’s electricity networks.
I’m talking about the synthetic gas sulphur hexafluoride – SF6, which is universally used for insulating switchgear and prevent arcing (mega-sparking).
Just a couple of days ago, it was announced that DNV, a foremost technology qualifier and assurance provider in the energy transition, had been brought in as overall project manager, and partner of the project.
Solving the SF6 dilemma is a crucial part of the drive to evolve to a net zero compliant electricity network anywhere, let alone the UK.
But why is SF6 a part of what is essentially a carbon elimination mission?
Simple really! It’s 23,800 times more pernicious as a greenhouse gas than CO2. It has a stability span of literally thousands of years which is, in terms of our lifespan, in perpetuity.
It replaced polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) … another horror creation, the use and abuse of which got out of hand.
By 2000, the electrical power industry was already estimated to use about 80% of the SF6 produced, mostly as a gaseous dielectric medium. I don’t have a more recent figure to hand.
Regrettably, SF6 has so far defied efforts to neutralise it through processing.
It is gradually becoming clear that the power industry worldwide has been, shall we say, a bit too casual about its use. The offshore wind industry has been downright defensive about its use.
In November 2022, Energy Voice broke news of a significant SF6 escape whilst commissioning offshore switchgear aboard a transformer platform associated with the £1billion Seagreen windfarm offshore Scotland’s Angus coast, owned by SSE (LON: SSE) and TotalEnergies (PARIS: TTE) with the substation managed by works contractor Petrofac (LON: PFC).
What terrified me at the time was how difficult it was to extract any information let alone credible from any corporate or agency associated with the Seagreen incident.
The most frightening revelation came from an offshore worker on-shift that day who said: “We asked various guys if there has ever been a leak of SF6 gas before anywhere (seeing as it’s the worst greenhouse gas on the planet!)
“Most (of the squad on Seagreen) said ‘Nah!’ But if there was a leak there would be hell on as it’s a major f***-up!
“So the attitude was, it’s never happened before so it won’t happen here, and when it did happen they clearly were not ready for it.”
DNV has been working the SF6 challenge since at least 2017. And like everything else that this Norwegian classification society touches, I have little doubt that the work is methodical and thorough.
So why is it that National Grid et al have taken so bloody long to realise that they need help? And fast. Elimination deadlines are, bit by bit, being set worldwide.
The EU for example originally set a medium-voltage switchgear SF6 elimination target of 2026. That has apparently slipped past 2030. In Brexit Britain where the truth about anything has become even harder to come by than ever before, ergo, it’s as clear as mud.
All told, it’s not an encouraging picture; meanwhile the climate change clock tick-tocks relentlessly towards High Noon.
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