SSE’s Transmission business fights emissions with ‘greener grid’ technology

SSE’s transmission business (SSEN Transmission) and GE Renewable Energy’s Grid Solutions Business have unveiled cutting edge technology to cut gas emissions.

The development, which is believed to be the first of its kind in the world, will help in the fight against climate change by reducing the use of harmful SF₆, a gas widely used across the electricity industry.

The technology, which is being developed by GE with backing from the EU’s LIFE Programme, will be installed at SSEN Transmission’s new Kintore 400 kV substation in Aberdeenshire.

It follows on from SSEN Transmission becoming the world’s first electricity networks company to receive external accreditation from the Science Based Target initiative for its plans to tackle its direct impacts on climate change.

The accreditation demonstrates SSEN Transmission’s commitment to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions.

One of the key ways SSEN Transmission will achieve its target is to clean up the environmentally hazardous gases it uses to operate its transmission infrastructure.

The installation of GE’s Green Gas for Grid (g3) switchgear will avoid the addition of roughly 350,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent to the grid. This is comparable to removing over 138,000 cars from our roads for one year.

Rob McDonald, Managing Director of Transmission, said: “Tackling climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our generation and we are serious about our commitment to take direct and meaningful action to reduce our own impacts, as demonstrated by our world leading emission reduction targets.

“We have been working closely with GE over the past 18 months and are extremely proud to support the research and development of this innovative and world leading new technology.  By leading the industry in the drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we hope we can build on this partnership and encourage even greater action and industry cooperation to support the transition to net zero emissions.”

Once operational, the new Kintore substation will form a vital part of SSEN Transmission’s reinforcement of the transmission network in the East Coast of Scotland, enabling further renewables growth and facilitating Scotland and the UK’s transition to net zero emissions.