Carbon Emission Analysis of Power Transmission Equipment Based on XLPE Insulated Cables: From Cradle to Gate

Faced with the critical pressure to decarbonize power systems and develop the green supply chain of grid companies, reducing carbon emissions of power equipment becomes a crucial means to decrease the whole emissions of the system. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately calculate and analyze the carbon emissions of power equipment prior to purposefully reducing the carbon emissions. This paper proposes a carbon footprint calculation model for power equipment represented by XLPE Insulated Cables from a life cycle assessment (LCA) perspective, considering the raw material acquisition, transportation and cable production and transportation process, i.e., from cradle to gate. In each carbon accounting phase, the emission factor method is applied to calculate the carbon emissions. The case study based on a 10kV flame retardant XLPE insulated power cable is analyzed. The results indicate that the carbon emissions of the cable are mainly attributed to the raw material transportation phase (73.2%), followed by the carbon emissions associated with raw material acquisition. Effective advice to reduce carbon emissions of power cables are also analyzed based on the calculation results.