GE Awarded $3.7 Million from U.S. Department of Energy to Accelerate Decarbonization of U.S. Electrical Grid with Its g3 Gas Technology
October 27 2021 - 6:35AM
Business Wire
GE (NYSE-GE) announced today it has 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 first award in the amount of $2.3 million to GE Renewable
Energy’s Grid Solutions business relates to the development of a
sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)-free 245 kilovolt (kV) dead tank
circuit-breaker1. The new circuit-breaker will use GE’s
game-changing g3 (pronounced “g”- cubed) gas insulating and
switching technology, which has a global warming potential that is
99% less compared with SF62, to deliver the same high performance
as a traditional SF6 circuit-breaker. As g3 products have the same
dimensions as SF6 equipment, there is no increase in emissions
during the manufacturing process from additional material.
The second award to GE Research Center in the amount $1.4
million is part of a $2.7 million project led by the University of
Connecticut that will focus on the life cycle management of g3
products, mainly gas leakages and byproduct detection, capture and
monitoring tools.
“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 GE’s g3
gas technology. This funding will help demonstrate the
applicability of g3 gas 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. “One of the major
advantages of GE’s g3 gas is that this fluoronitrile-based solution
is scalable to higher voltage levels. As part of this project, the
245 kV g3 circuit breaker will be scaled to 550 kV, which helps
accelerate market acceptance of SF6-free technology and support the
U.S.’s goal of net zero emissions by 2050.”
Every year, an average of 450 tons of SF6 gas is installed on
the U.S. grid by new manufactured electrical equipment, according
to the greenhouse gas inventory data published by the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This
represents an estimated 11.3 million tons of CO2-equivalent
installed in the country. By replacing the SF6 gas with GE’s g3
technology, this would represent a significant reduction in
CO2-equivalent, comparable to about 2.5 million passenger vehicles
on the road during a one-year period.
Click to read the full press release.
Notes to the Editor:
About GE’s Grid Solutions
Grid Solutions, a GE Renewable Energy business, serves customers
globally with over 13,000 employees. Grid Solutions provides power
utilities and industries worldwide with equipment, systems and
services to bring power reliably and efficiently from the point of
generation to end power consumers. Grid Solutions is focused on
addressing the challenges of the energy transition by enabling the
safe and reliable connection of renewable and distributed energy
resources to the grid. We electrify the world with advanced grid
technologies and accelerate the energy transition. For more about
GE’s Grid Solutions, visit https://www.gegridsolutions.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211027005131/en/
For media inquiries, contact:
Allison J. Cohen GE Renewable Energy, Grid Solutions business
External Communications Manager +972-(0)54-7299742
Allison.J.Cohen@ge.com
Todd Alhart GE Research Center Executive, Media Relations and
Chief Technology Storyteller (518) 338-5880 Todd.Alhart@ge.com
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