The Current State of Switching Principles and Switching Equipment in the Medium Voltage Networks of the National Energy System in Romania

Sulphur hexafluoride, SF6, is widely used in electrical equipment due to its stable structure and excellent properties in terms of electrical insulation performance and electrical switching performance. SF6 is composed of fluorine (F) and sulfur atoms (S). SF6’s arc quenching capacity is 100 times that of air and its insulating capacity is 2.5 times that of air. However, due to major drawbacks: the strong greenhouse effect and the toxicity of decomposition products, the gas has to be limited in widespread use. Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council was adopted to reverse the upward trend in fluorinated greenhouse gas emissions. Recently legislation in this area has been improved by the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2024/573 of the European Parliament and of the Council of February 7, 2024 on fluorinated greenhouse gases, amending Directive (EU) 2019/1937 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 517/2014. In this paper it is estimated quantitatively the switching equipment that continues SF6 and the total amount of SF6 in the medium voltage networks of the Romanian National Energy System (SEN), in order to determine the environmental impact of the existing SF6 and the measures of principle to improve the current state by limiting and reducing the amount of SF6 within the SEN.