Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of SF6-based SP-3 and SF6-free Eco 145kV Gas Insulated Switchgears

This paper presents the results of a life cycle assessment (LCA) of two variants of a 145kV high voltage circuit breaker (HVCB) gas insulated switchgear (GIS) substation: (i) SF6-based SP-3, and (ii) SF6-free Eco, which uses the eco-friendly fluoronitriles-based Novec 4710 synthetic gas mixture. The ReCiPe2016 midpoint-oriented calculation methodology is used, which provides life cycle impact assessment results in terms of 18 environmental impact indicators, that are then grouped into four life cycle stages; production, transportation, use and end-of-life. First, an LCA of both variants is performed. Next, a comparative LCA of the SF6-based and SF6-free HVCB GIS is conducted, followed by interpretation of the results considering the most influential parameters. The results indicate that adopting the SF6-free Eco variant has a significant positive impact on global warming potential, a key climate change indicator. Finally, the characteristic features of the LCA are summarized along with recommendations for future strategy and improvement.